POST-PRESS: SC and DOJ Upholds DOH Implementing Rules on Milk Code

THE INFANT AND Pediatric Nutrition Association of the Philippines (IPNAP), a lobby group representing multinational manufacturers of infant-nutrition products in the country such as Abbott Laboratories, Fontera Brands, MeadJohnson Nutrition, Nestle and Wyeth, had questioned on 21 December 2011 the implementing rules that the Department of Health (DOH) drafted for Executive Order 51 (EO51), otherwise known as the Milk Code, that sought to regulate false health claims and attractive marketing strategies to promote milk-replacement products that undermine the government's program promoting breastfeeding among Filipino mothers.

But the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court ruled that DOH has all the right to establish implementing rules being the sole government authority tasked in implementing the Milk Code.

This development came after the results of the Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) study in 2008 showed last year that the Philippines had a very week breastfeeding culture, with only 34% of Filipinos breastfeeding infants younger than six months of age thus leading to under nutrition. Take note--under nutrition! That means that despite claims that infant formula make, it cannot meet the nutritional needs of infants and young children. [READ MORE]

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