SMA Nutrition, a UK manufacturer of baby milk, has been fined a total of £26,000 (US$41,810) and ordered to pay nearly £35,000 costs after being found guilty of illegal advertising.
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Trading standards officials prosecuted the company at Birmingham magistrates court for placing what the company argued was “important information relating to the ingredients of infant formula” in paid-for advertising slots in parenting magazines, reported the Guardian.
Infant formula manufacturers are banned from advertising to the public in the UK.
“This case has serious implications for infant health,” Patti Rundall, of Baby Milk Action, was quoted by the paper as saying.
Rundall went on to say that SMA, part of the Wyeth pharmaceutical group, had deliberately challenged the government’s right to regulate baby-milk marketing.
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By GlobalDataSMA is reportedly considering an appeal.
This week’s Feature of the Week focuses on the ethics and opportunities that surround advertising breastmilk substitutes. To read it, members can click here.
