Infant Formula Campaign

Nestlé: Peddling Deadly Infant Formula (1977-1984)

Our Infant Formula Campaign and Nestlé Boycott was the first boycott in history to bring a major corporation to the table with ordinary, concerned consumers. Launched in 1977, our campaign challenged the world's largest food corporation for aggressively marketing breastmilk substitutes to mothers in poor countries who could not afford the formula powder and did not have clean water to mix it. As a result, millions of babies from Africa to South America died from malnutrition.

Working with allies around the world, we organized an international boycott of Nestlé products and contributed to the World Health Organization's adoption of a global code regulating the marketing of breastmilk substitutes. In 1984, boycotters achieved a major victory, forcing Nestlé to commit to major changes in its practices. Allies in the International Baby Food Action Network (of which we were a founding member) continue to pressure Nestlé to comply with these commitments.