Nestlé supports World Breastfeeding Week

To mark World Breastfeeding Week, taking place from 1-7 August on the theme ‘Breastfeeding support: Close to mothers’, we are sharing some examples of how we support optimal infant nutrition worldwide.

As the world’s leading nutrition, health and wellness company, we believe we can contribute to improving the health and nutrition of mothers and their children. Our commitment to good nutrition starts with our support for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding up to six months, then the introduction of nutritious and appropriate complementary foods, along with sustained breastfeeding up to two years of age and beyond.

For infants who cannot be breastfed for the recommended period of time, infant formula plays a vital role in providing them with essential nutrients. It is the only suitable breast milk substitute recommended by the WHO.

We pledge to commercialise our breast milk substitutes responsibly. As a result of our strict policies and procedures in this area, we are proud to be the first, and so far the only, infant food manufacturer to have been included in the FTSE4Good responsible investment index.

FTSE4Good measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards and facilitates investment in them. It is the only responsible investment index that sets rigorous criteria on the marketing of breast milk substitutes. Our inclusion in the index requires our practices to be independently verified in two countries, every year. We continue to learn from this process and take it as an opportunity to further improve our practices.

We hope that other infant food manufacturers will in time join FTSE4Good with the aim of raising the standards of responsible conduct for the whole industry.

Responsible commercialisation of our breast milk substitutes