Most baby formula health claims not backed by science: study

Yahoo – AFP, Daniel Lawler, 16 February 2023 

The vast majority of health claims used to advertise baby formula worldwide are not supported by rigorous scientific evidence, a study said Thursday, leading researchers to urge the breast milk substitutes be sold in plain packaging. 

The study comes a week after a group of doctors and scientists called for a regulatory crackdown on the $55-billion formula industry for "predatory" marketing which they said exploits the fears of new parents to convince them not to breastfeed. 

Breastfeeding is widely recognised to have huge health benefits for babies. The World Health Organization and the US CDC recommend breastfeeding exclusively during the first six months of a newborn's life. 

However that recommendation is followed for less than half of infants globally, according to the WHO. 

Daniel Munblit, an honorary senior lecturer at Imperial College London and an author of the new study, said researchers were not on a "crusade" against infant formula, which should remain an option for mothers who cannot or choose not to breastfeed.

"But we are very much against inappropriate infant formula marketing, which provides misleading claims not backed up by solid evidence," Munblit told AFP. 

Munblit and an international team of researchers looked at the health claims made for 608 products on the websites of infant formula companies in 15 countries, including the United States, India, Britain and Nigeria. 

The most common claims were that formula supports brain development, strengthens immune systems and more broadly helps growth. 

Half of the products did not link the claimed health benefit to a specific ingredient, according to the study published in the BMJ journal. 

Three quarters did not refer to scientific evidence supporting their claims. 

Of those that provided a scientific reference, more than half pointed to reviews, opinion pieces or research on animals. 

Just 14 percent of the products referred to registered clinical trials on humans. However 90 percent of those trials carried a high risk of bias, including missing data or the finding not supporting the claim, the study said. 

And nearly 90 percent of the clinical trials had authors who received funding from or had ties to the formula industry, it added. 

'Distressing' 

The most commonly cited ingredient was polyunsaturated fatty acids, which is in breast milk and is considered important for brain development. 

However there is no evidence of any added benefit when the ingredient is added to baby formula, according to a Cochrane systematic review. 

Munblit said the health claims were mostly used to advertise premium formula products, which could be "distressing" for parents who are misled into believing the ingredients are essential but cannot afford them. 

When asked what he thinks needs to be done to address the problem, Munblit was concise. 

"Plain packaging," he said. 

The study comes after a series of papers were published in the Lancet journal last week calling for global policy makers to end exploitative formula marketing. 

WHO infant health specialist Nigel Rollins, an author of one of the Lancet papers, said busy parents "lack the time to properly scrutinise claims" about infant formula. 

The new study showed that "governments and regulatory authorities must commit the necessary time and attention to review the claims of formula milk products," Rollins said in a linked BMJ editorial.

Study investigates if mother’s milk could protect against the coronavirus

DutchNews, April 24, 2020 - By Senay Boztas

Photo: Depositphotos

Researchers at the UMC teaching hospital in Amsterdam are studying whether antibodies in mother’s milk could have a preventative effect against the coronavirus. 

Britt van Keulen, a doctor at its mother’s milk bank is recruiting 30 breastfeeding mothers who have had the coronavirus and who are willing to donate some of their milk for testing. 

‘We know that mother’s milk protects newborns against respiratory infections, because it contains antibodies,’ she said in a press release. ‘By breastfeeding, the mother passes on her own antibodies to her child.’ 

She expects that coronavirus antibodies would also find their way into breastmilk, based on reports of a pregnant woman during the SARS epidemic in 2003. ‘This woman was seriously ill with the SARS virus and gave birth to a healthy baby at 38 weeks,’ she said. ‘Her breastmilk contained antibodies against the SARS virus. The coronavirus is very similar to the SARS virus – it is in the same family – so I think that corona antibodies will also be passed along into mother’s milk.’ 

However, even if enough antibodies are found in the breastmilk of mothers who have developed immunity to the coronavirus, the team will then have to test whether these survive a necessary pasteurisation process. This is a standard process for donor milk which is given to premature babies, for instance. 

She said that if this is the case, the milk could be given as a preventative medicine for vulnerable groups such as newborn babies or even older people. ‘It might be a strange image having old people drink mother’s milk as protection,’ she added. ‘But it is still logical, because antibodies in the milk would protect them against the coronavirus.’ 

She told the Parool that if a newborn baby is given a glass of milk a day, older people might need more to represent their greater body weight. 

‘Why would we joke about this?’ she reportedly added. ‘Milk in the supermarket comes from someone else, namely a cow who walks with muddy udders through a meadow. We have simply accepted this image, so why would milk from a clean mother’s breast be such a crazy notion?’ 

Around 3,500 Dutch women between 25 and 40 are confirmed to have had the coronavirus, reports the Parool, although it is not known how many are breastfeeding. 

DutchNews.nl has contacted the UMC for a comment.

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Hundreds of Philippine mums in show of support for breast-feeding

Yahoo – AFP, August 5, 2018

Philippine mothers take part in the event to promote breastfeeding
(AFP Photo/NOEL CELIS)

Manila (AFP) - Hundreds of Philippine mothers simultaneously nursed their babies in public on Sunday, some of them two at a time, in a government-backed mass breastfeeding event aimed at combating child deaths.

About 1,500 women, some of them wearing tiaras and superhero T-shirts, sat on the vast floor of a Manila stadium and let their babies suckle to the beat of dance music.

"Breastfeeding is love. It is difficult, but we do it for love," said Abegirl Limjap, a pregnant 38-year-old property manager in a "Super Mom" superhero costume as she nursed her two boys, one aged five and the other 11 months.

The annual event aims to draw public support for a government campaign to get more mothers to switch to breast milk from infant formula, organiser Rose Padua told AFP.

The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund recommend that children be given breast milk within the first hour of birth and be exclusively breastfed for their first six months.

Globally however, three in five babies are not breastfed early, putting them at higher risk of death and disease, the two UN agencies said in a report earlier this year.

Twenty-seven children out of every thousand died before the age of five in the Philippines in 2016, according to WHO data.

WHO and UNICEF estimate about half of Filipino babies were initiated into early breastfeeding in 2013, barely changed from 46 percent in 2003.

"It's an empowering moment," said first-time mother Joyce Balido, 29, as she cradled her four-month-old girl at the mass breastfeeding event.

"It was very difficult to establish a milk supply at first. I am sleep-starved but I committed myself to have my daughter exclusively breast-fed," added Balido, an engineer.

Sixty-one other mass breastfeeding events were held in other Philippine cities over the weekend, said Padua, the event organiser.

She said the country was on course to beat last year's attendance of 4,775 nursing mothers in 25 events.

Cambodia bans human breast milk exports to US

Yahoo – AFP, March 28, 2017

Cambodia temporarily halted breast milk exports by Utah-based Ambrosia Labs,
which claimed to be the first firm to source the product from overseas and
distribute it in the US (AFP Photo/Raul ARBOLEDA)

Phnom Penh (AFP) - Cambodia officially banned selling and exporting locally-pumped human breast milk Tuesday, after reports exposed how women were turning to the controversial trade to boost meagre incomes in one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries.

The order comes after Cambodia temporarily halted breast milk exports by Utah-based Ambrosia Labs, which claims to be the first firm to source the product from overseas and distribute it in the United States.

The milk was pumped by poor Cambodian women in the capital Phnom Penh and then shipped to the US, where it was pasteurised and sold for $20 per 5 oz (147 ml) pack.

The company's customers are American mothers who want to supplement their babies' diets or cannot produce enough milk of their own.

On Tuesday, Cambodia's cabinet ordered the health ministry to "take actions to immediately prevent the purchasing and exporting of breast milk from mothers from Cambodia," according to a letter seen by AFP.

"Although Cambodia is poor and (life is) difficult, it is not at the level that it will sell breast milk from mothers," it added.

Cambodia's cabinet has ordered the health ministry to "take actions to immediately

 prevent the purchasing and exporting of breast milk from mothers from Cambodia," 

according to a letter seen by AFP (AFP Photo/Fred DUFOUR)

Ambrosia Labs has defended its business in previous interviews, saying the model encouraged Cambodian women to continue breast feeding, earned them much needed extra income and helped fill milk bank shortages in the US.

But UNICEF -- the arm of the UN protecting children -- welcomed the ban, saying the trade was exploitative and that excess breast milk should remain in Cambodia, where many babies lack proper nutrition.

"In Cambodia exclusive breastfeeding for newborns for their first six months declined from 75 per cent in 2010 to 65 per cent in 2014," Debora Comini, UNICEF's Cambodia Representative said in a statement.

Ros Sopheap, the director of the local women's rights group Gender and Development for Cambodia (GDC), applauded the government's decision to bar the trade.

"Even if women agree to do it voluntarily, they often have no other choices and face economic pressure," she told AFP.

Chea Sam, a 30-year-old mother who once worked for Ambrosia Labs, told AFP in a recent interview that she had been selling her breast milk for three months after the birth of her son.

She said she earned $7.5-$10 a day and she knew at least 20 other mothers doing the same.

"We are regretful that this trade has been banned. It had helped our livelihood a lot," she told AFP after the exports were initially suspended.

Pope tells women to feel free to breastfeed in church

Yahoo – AFP, January 8, 2017

Pope Francis baptises a baby at the Sistine Chapel on January 8, 2017

Pope Francis encouraged women attending a ceremony in the Sistine Chapel on Sunday to feel free to breastfeed their children in the church.

"The ceremony is a little long, someone's crying because he's hungry. That's the way it is," the pontiff said.

"You mothers, go ahead and breastfeed, without fear. Just like the Virgin Mary nursed Jesus," he told worshippers attending an annual ceremony commemorating the baptism of Jesus.

The Argentine pope on Sunday baptised 28 children -- 15 boys and 13 girls.

He has previously voiced his support for breastfeeding, including in public.

The benefits of breastfeeding include providing optimal nutrition and an immune system boost for babies, while helping mothers bond with infants and speeding maternal weight loss after birth.

In many countries around the world, however, women are still widely discouraged from breastfeeding, especially when they are in public.

World must tighten laws on breast-milk substitutes: UN report

Yahoo – AFP, Nina Larson, May 9, 2016

Only about one child in three is exclusively breastfed for the first half year of life
-- a rate that has not improved in two decades (AFP Photo/Johan Ordonez)

Geneva (AFP) - Legislation against the promotion of breast milk substitutes must be significantly tightened if global efforts to encourage breast feeding are to succeed, a UN report warned Monday.

It is widely recognised that breastfeeding carries huge health benefits, but countries' failure to crack down on the marketing of substitutes means far too many children are still being reared on formula, said the World Health Organization, the UN children's agency UNICEF and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN).

A mother breastfeeds her child in 

suburban Manila on August 1, 2015

 (AFP Photo/Jay Directo)

"There are still far too many places where mothers are inundated with incorrect and biased information through advertising and unsubstantiated health claims," warned Francesco Branca, head of WHO's Nutrition for Health and Development department.

"This can distort parents' perceptions and undermine their confidence in breastfeeding, with the result that far too many children miss out on its many benefits," he said in a statement.

Experts have long extolled the health benefits of breastfeeding, pointing out that breastfed children are healthier, perform better on intelligence tests and are less likely to be overweight or suffer from diabetes later in life.

Women who breastfeed also have a reduced risk of breast and ovarian cancer, research shows.

A study in the Lancet medical journal earlier this year estimated that more than 800,000 child deaths and 20,000 breast cancer deaths could be averted every year if more babies were breastfed for longer.

Industry pressure

WHO and UNICEF recommend babies have nothing but breast milk for the first six months, after which they should continue to breastfeed alongside other safe and nutritionally-adequate foods until they are at least two.

But in spite of the clear advantages, only about one child in three is exclusively breastfed for the first half year of life -- a rate that has not improved in two decades.

Countries have agreed to try to push that number up to at least 50 percent by 2025, but pressure from a growing breast-milk substitute industry is complicating those efforts.

The industry today rakes in sales of nearly $45 billion annually -- a figure which is projected to grow to $70 billion by 2019.

Of the 194 countries studied, 135 had some form of legal measures linked to the WHO's International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.

Experts have long extolled the health benefits of breastfeeding, pointing out 

that breastfed children are healthier, perform better on intelligence tests and are 

less likely to be overweight or suffer from diabetes later in life (AFP Photo/

Jonas Roosens)

That was a clear improvement from 103 countries in 2011, but the report showed only 39 of them covered all the Code's recommendations, including banning all advertising and sample hand-outs of breast-milk substitutes, bans on labels making nutritional or health claims and requiring products to inform consumers of the superiority of breastfeeding over formula.

'Fudging the truth'

And the world's wealthiest countries, which are often the most business-friendly, tend to have the weakest legislation.

Only six percent of European countries provide comprehensive legislation and most have just a few laws.

The United States, Australia and New Zealand meanwhile had no legal measures at all, the report said.

At the other end of the scale, a full 36 percent of countries in Southeast Asia had laws covering all the recommendations in the Code, followed by Africa at 30 percent and the Eastern Mediterranean region at 29 percent, the report showed.

"Clever marketing should not be allowed to fudge the truth that there is no equal substitute for a mother's own milk," UNICEF nutrition chief Werner Schultink said in the statement.

Woman kicked out of Berlin café fights for right to breastfeed

A woman who says she wasn't allowed to breastfeed her child in a coffee house has started campaigning for a law to allow nursing in public. It's sparked a controversial debate about breasts, rights and common sense.

Deutsche Welle, 24 February 2016

When all was said and done, Johanna Spanke felt hurt, embarrassed and angry. The 30-year-old PhD candidate just wanted to grab a drink and treat herself to a piece of cake in a café in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood. In tow were her boyfriend and her three-months-old baby.

"We had just paid at the counter and had picked up our forks to eat the cake. One of the staffers then said that it's not allowed to nurse babies here," Spanke told DW.

She said she was perplexed since she hadn't started breastfeeding or shown any intentions of doing so, but grew concerned what she should do if the baby became hungry. She then decided to talk to the owner, she said.

"He was very gruff and arrogant. He said it was prohibited since this was an upscale café," she recalled. According to her account, she tried to reason with him, asking whether it would be okay if she would do it in a very discreet way, covering herself and the baby with a cloth.

"But he said no - he would give us our money back, but then we should leave."

Legally speaking, owners can throw out undesirable guests by exercising his property rights and tell customers to leave.

'The customer decided to leave'

However, that's not how Ralf Rüller, the owner of said coffee house, remembers the incident. "We asked a customer not to breastfeed [by the] window. It would have been possible to do this in the back [of our café]. The customer decided to leave," the Barn Roastery wrote on its Facebook page. That's the same statement Rüller sent to DW when approached for an interview.

"We are not against breastfeeding," the statement reads. "We ask to do this discreetly and with respect towards our other guests - which are also coming from other cultural backgrounds."

Berlin's Barn Roastery came under fire in 2012 when it installed a bollard
to keep strollers out

According to Spanke, he did not offer an alternative to breastfeed somewhere else in the café.

"I was very hurt and felt snubbed. We didn't make a fuss by pointing this out to other customers, also because I was a bit afraid that they might say 'Yes, it's really disgusting, there's no place for that here,'" she added.

The café already sparked uproar in 2012, when it installed a bollard to keep baby strollers out.

"We are probably not the first choice for someone visiting with an infant or young child. We ask to respect this - there are many alternatives in the neighborhood", the Barn Roastery statement ends.

Taking action

Back home, Spanke decided to take action and set up a petition - she's calling on Germany's Family Minister Manuela Schwesig, demanding a law that allows women to breastfeed their babies in public. So far, she's just shy of 17,000 signatures.

Breastfeeding in public is not forbidden, but it's also not specifically stipulated that it's allowed. That's what Spanke wants to change - she's hoping her petition will lead to an open debate about the true nature of breastfeeding.

Spanke hopes people will no longer
regard breastfeeding as disgusting

"Women's breast have apparently become so sexualized that it's considered disgusting now," she said. It's recommended to breastfeed babies at least until the baby is 6 months old, she added.

The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency called the ban of breastfeeding in public places gender-based discrimination.

The National Breastfeeding Committee at the Federal Institute for Risk assessment which advises the government on - you guessed it - breastfeeding, commented on a similar petition and said nursing babies should be put under legal protection. It's to be assumed that a substantial proportion of breastfeeding mothers shun doing so in public, the statement reads.

Countless studies have proven that breastfeeding is good and important for both mother and child, a spokesperson of Germany's Family Ministry told DW. It's crucial for a society that wants to be family-friendly to enable mothers to breastfeed their children in public, the spokesperson added. "It should be possible to find good solutions in the interest of all parties."

Where to go from here?

Breastfeeding seems to be a contentious issue that's hotly debated. On social media, some point out the obvious hypocrisy: "Use boobs to sell everything from cars to cheeseburgers and nobody cares. Use boobs to feed a baby in public and everyone loses their minds," one post reads.

But there are also others who voice their anger about the "disgusting" practice of breastfeeding, saying their are put off by women nursing their babies right next to where they are eating. They suggest women use bottles instead or simply feed babies at home. They don't care what the women do as long as they stay out of sight. Often, they use derogative words for breasts.

Spanke plans to submit the signatures calling for a new law to German Family Minister Schwesig and hopes for change in society. "It really seems to be a big issue," she said. "Unfortunately, this seems to be a form of discrimination that's accepted by society."

China mulls breast feeding campaign

iCross China, 2015-04-20

BEIJING, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The top legislature began reviewing a draft amendment to the Advertisement Law, which proposes a ban on baby formula advertising to promote breast feeding.

"Dairy products, drinks and other food advertisements that claim to partly or completely substitute mother's milk are [banned from] mass media or public venues," said the draft.

The draft revision was submitted to the bimonthly legislative session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, which will run from Monday to Friday.

The proposal stipulates that advertisers, clients, agents and publishers that violate the rule could be fined up to 1 million yuan (163,260 U.S. dollars).

Many champions believe that breast feeding is the best source of nutrition for newborns, as it increases their immune systems and reduces the likelihood of obesity in adulthood.

However, only 28 percent of infants younger than 6 months were breast fed exclusively in China in 2008, well below the global average of about 40 percent, according to figures released by United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) China.

Breast feeding rates might have increased in recent years as the government initiated measures to revive the practice, such as encouraging businesses to offer new mothers dedicated rooms to feed their infants or to express milk.

The State Council aims to raise the exclusive breast feeding rate to 50 percent by 2020, as outlined in its program for the development of women and children.

São Paulo breastfeeding law would fine those who try to stop nursing mothers

Legislation in the Brazilian city – which officials believe to be the first of its kind – was approved last week and is expected to be signed into effect in next 20 days

The Guardian, Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro, Thursday 19 March 2015

More than 1,000 mothers breastfeed their babies during the National Meeting
of Breastfeeding in Santos, Brazil, in 2010. Photograph: Getty Images

Latin America’s largest city is poised to pass legislation that would levy a £100 fine on any business or organisation that prevents women from breastfeeding in public. 

The ordinance in São Paulo – which local officials believe to be the first of its kind in the world – follows street protests in recent years by lactating mothers who feel marginalised by prejudice even though the benefits of breastfeeding are recognised by the World Health Organisation and promoted by the national government.

The regulation was approved by the São Paulo municipal government last week and is expected to be signed into effect by Mayor Fernando Haddad within the next 20 days.

Concern about prejudice towards nursing mothers has been brought into the national spotlight by a series of incidents involving women being reprimanded by officials for “embarrassing” bystanders, or being called a “slut” by observers.

The highest profile occurred last year, when model Priscila Navarro Bueno was scolded by a security guard for breastfeeding her seven-month-old daughter during a David Bowie exhibition at the Museum of Image and Sound in Sao Paulo

“Unfortunately society is still very puritanical. During Carnival women can show their breasts, but it is not permitted to do so to give milk to your child. It is absurd that woman have to breastfeed in a hidden room,” Navarro Bueno said at the time.

In protest at such displays of intolerance, nursing mothers have organised three annual “Mamaço Time” protests. Last year, about 40 mothers breastfeed their babies on Avenida Paulista – the city’s main thoroughfare – and chanted “Breastfeeding is my right.”

Simone de Carvalho, representative of the Breastfeeding Solidarity movement, told local media that it was important for society to fight against prejudice towards breastfeeding, which was the “gold standard” of nutrition recognised by the World Health Organisation.

The Museum of Image and Sound has subsequently issued an apology and said staff have been informed that women are nurse their children in public at the facility.

If the mayor signs the new ordinance into effect, this could become policy at all institutions and companies in the city.

Those who violate the regulation will be fined 500 Rs (£103). One of the city councilors who first proposed the bill in 2013 said the amount was symbolic, but would support national health policies which have encouraged breastfeeding since the 1980s.

“We created this measure not only because of the fine, but to make people realise it is forbidden to veto (breastfeeding),” said Aurelio Nomura. “We understand that prejudices must be broken.”

A new long-term study in Brazil has shown that breastfed babies are more likely to turn into intelligent, highly-educated and well-paid adults.

Breastfeeding leads to higher IQ, earnings: study

Yahoo – AFP, Mariette Le Roux, 18 March 2015

Breastfeeding leads to increased adult intelligence, longer schooling and 

higher adult earnings, regardless of family background, the results of a 

study suggest (AFP Photo/Andrew Burton)

Paris (AFP) - People breastfed as infants have higher intelligence scores in adulthood, and higher earnings, according to a study Wednesday that tracked the development of 3,500 newborns over 30 years.

Whether a mother was rich or poor, or had high or low social status, made no difference to the results, it said.

The findings drew a mixed response from outside commentators, a sign of scientific caution about what influences IQ.

"Our study provides the first evidence that prolonged breastfeeding not only increases intelligence until at least the age of 30 years," said Bernardo Lessa Horta of Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil, who led the probe.

Breast milk is rich in long-chain

 saturated fatty acids (DHAs) which 

are essential for brain development, 

according to a new study (AFP

Photo/Niklas Halle'n)

"(It) also has an impact both at an individual and societal level by improving educational attainment and earning ability."

In The Lancet Global Health journal, Horta's team analysed data from a study of local children who were born in 1982.

Information on breastfeeding was compared to IQ test results at the average age of 30 years, as well as the educational achievement and income of 3,493 participants.

The researchers divided the group into five categories, based on the length of time they were breastfed as infants.

They took into account 10 "social and biological variables" that might affect IQ.

These included family income at birth, parental schooling, maternal smoking during pregnancy, maternal age, birthweight and how the baby was delivered.

Breastfeeding led to increased adult intelligence, longer schooling and higher adult earnings, regardless of family background, the results suggested.

"What is unique about this study is the fact that, in the population we studied, breastfeeding was not more common among highly educated, high-income women, but was evenly distributed by social class," said Horta.

The longer a child was breastfed, the greater the benefits, the investigation also found.

An individual breastfed for at least a year as a baby gained a full four IQ points, had 0.9 years more schooling, and an income of 341 Brazilian reals (98 euros, $104) higher per month at the age of 30, compared to those breastfed for less than one month, the study found.

Breast milk is rich in long-chain saturated fatty acids (DHAs) which are essential for brain development, Horta suggested.

"The amount of milk consumed (also) plays a role," he added.

In a comment carried in the same journal, Erik Mortensen of the University of Copenhagen said the findings had important public health implications.

"However, these findings need to be corroborated by future studies designed to focus on long-term effects and important life outcomes associated with breastfeeding."

A positive note was struck by leading British expert Colin Michie, Britain's Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

One of a string of inquiries into breastfeeding in recent years, the study was "very powerful" as it was exceptionally large and long-term, he said.

But, he cautioned, "breastfeeding is one of many factors that can contribute to a child’s outcomes."

Given the many benefits of breastfeeding, it was essential for health watchdogs to encourage the practice among mums, he said.

US 'losing out' over paid maternity leave: UN

Yahoo – AFP, Nina Larson, 13 May 2014

The United States is one of just three countries not to guarantee any paid

maternity leave, the UN says (AFP Photo/Michael Buckner)

Geneva (AFP) - The United States is one of just three countries not to guarantee any paid maternity leave, a policy that costs the country dearly, the UN's labour agency said Tuesday.

Only Papua New Guinea, Oman and the United States -- the world's largest economy -- do not require employers to provide paid leave, according to an International Labour Organization report published Tuesday entitled "The State of Maternity and Paternity at Work".

Under US national law, all new mothers can take up to 12 weeks off after giving birth, but without the guaranteed right to compensation.

"Definitely, the (US) society is losing out," said Laura Addati, a maternity protection and work-family specialist at the ILO.

A large majority of women workers in the

 world do not have access to "adequate

 maternity protection" (AFP Photo/Nicolas

Asfouri)

Elsewhere in the world, the report showed countries were generally raising mandatory cash benefits and extending the amount of time both mothers and fathers can stay home after the birth of a child.

Eastern European and Central Asian countries were the most generous, with public funds providing women in Croatia for instance 100 percent of their salary during a year-long maternity leave.

The Scandinavian countries also performed well, with Norway allowing both parents a combined year and 10 months off -- with four months reserved exclusively for the father -- and receive 80 percent of their salaries while they're away.

Shauna Olney, who heads the ILO's Gender, Equality and Diversity Branch, hailed such initiatives aimed at getting fathers to carry more of the burden at home and thus help iron out gender inequality at work.

"There is a growing recognition of the link with gender equality and also the importance of the role of fathers in child development," she told reporters, stressing the need "to change perceptions of parenting roles and of prevailing stereotypes."

A large majority of women workers in the world, some 830 million of them, meanwhile do not have access to "adequate maternity protection," according to ILO standards.

These require at least 14 weeks paid maternity leave and a guarantee the woman will get her job back when she returns.

Nearly 80 percent of those women live in Africa and Asia, the UN agency said.

Health versus income security

Five US states including California and New York require some form of compensation during maternity leave and some businesses choose to continue paying at least a percentage of a new mother's salary during her absence.

But the ILO says only 12 percent of women working in the private sector in the country have access to paid leave, and the percentage drops to just five percent for low-wage workers.

This often puts women and their families in an impossible position, forcing them "to choose between their health and the health of their child and income security of their families," Addati told reporters.

A full quarter of women with no access to compensation during their absence decide to forfeit most of the maternity leave they are entitled to and come back to work within 10 days of giving birth, she said.

A large majority of women workers in the

 world do not have access to "adequate

 maternity protection" (AFP Photo/

Yoshikazu Tsuno)

This not only makes breastfeeding and bonding with a new baby difficult, but also poses a serious health risk to the woman, she said, pointing out that it is medically advised to stay home for at least six weeks after delivery.

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination claims in the United States meanwhile swelled 31 percent between 2005 and 2010, growing faster than all job bias claims in that period, the ILO found.

US courts have awarded some $150 million in damages for such claims since 2001, reflecting "the persistence of job dismissal and employment discrimination on the basis of maternity," it said.

The United States is not alone on that front.

Despite laws on the books in most countries prohibiting workplace discrimination of pregnant women and new mothers, "maternity discrimination persists around the world, everywhere," Addati said. 

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70 New Zealand formula brands may be forced out of China

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-04-29

New Zealand milk powder brand Fonterra products at a supermarket in
Shanxi province. (File photo/CNS)

Around 70 New Zealand infant formula brands may be forced out of the Chinese market even though 13 major milk power exporters passed tests by the authorities which came after Beijing formulated a new law that will take effect next month, reports the Guangdong-based Yangcheng Evening News.

New Zealand food safety minister Nikki Kaye and primary industries minister Nathan Guy said last week that the Chinese government has confirmed that the 13 companies, which amount to 90% of exported milk powder in the country, have passed tests and are allowed to register in China.

Four Chinese officials were sent to New Zealand to examine dairy and infant formula factories last month after Beijing decided to ban imports of formula manufactured by overseas companies that do not register with the Chinese government.

Oceanian countries exported US$4.3 billion in dairy products to China last year, of which 4% was infant formula.

Even though the 13 companies got the green light, around 70 brands from New Zealand are likely to be banned under the new rules which require the brand to have direct contact with manufacturers. That suggests these brands have to have clear control and management over manufacturing processes and product formula.

An industrial insider said the figure could exceed 70 since manufacturers have also raised their standards. Now they are only willing to manufacture for brands that have certain amounts of sales, investments and brand influence. Many small brands are likely to be forced out of the market due to the new laws, said a Chinese milk powder trader.

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