children
1 November 2007
The Department of Health last Friday published the draft Regulations
relating to foodstuffs for infants, young children and children in the
Government Gazette (No. 30402).
These draft Regulations, when promulgated, will replace the existing
Regulations Relating to Foodstuffs for Infants, Young Children and Children,
No. R1130 of 8 June 1984 published under the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and
Disinfectants Act of 1972. The draft Regulations are supplementary to the other
labelling and advertising requirements laid down by the Act.
The public, companies and various interest groups have until the end of
January 2008 to submit comments on the draft Regulations before they are
finalised and brought into effect by mid-2008.
The draft Regulations are in line with all international standards
(International Code of Marketing of Breast milk Substitutes and subsequent
relevant World Health Assembly Resolutions and Codex Alimentarius standards)
pertaining to foods for infants, young children and children. The draft
Regulations sets out detailed provisions with regard to, inter alia:
a. labelling, composition, packaging and manufacturing matters
b. promotion-related matters of formulas, complementary foods and related
products to the general public, mothers, health workers and health care
establishments.
c. information and education on infant feeding.
These Regulations are to ensure the provision of safe and adequate nutrition
for infants and young children. These draft Regulations do not, in any way
compel women to breastfeed against their will. They do not stop infant formula
and complementary foods from being made available. The Regulations also protect
artificially-fed infants by ensuring that the choice of products is impartial,
scientific and the labels carry the correct instructions for preparation and
warnings. However, it is designed to remove commercial pressures from the
infant feeding arena, to ensure that all parents receive independent and
objective information and to ensure that all mothers who wish to breastfeed are
supported.
The World Health Assembly (WHA) regularly calls for governments to translate
the International Code into national legislation. If the Regulations are
promulgated, South Africa would join 76 other countries that have fully or
partially legislated the code.
The International Code of Marketing of Breast milk substitutes were adopted
by the World Health Assembly in 1981. This was done in response to the concern
over the negative impact that the aggressive marketing of artificial feeding
was having on infant health and survival. The Assembly recognised that improper
practices in the marketing of breast milk substitutes were contributing to
inappropriate feeding practices and causing infant malnutrition, morbidity and
mortality in all countries.
The code addresses the responsible way in which breast-milk substitutes
should be marketed. The WHA revisits the infant feeding issue periodically,
adopting Resolutions that further clarify the code, or addresses new
promotional activities that are undermining breastfeeding. All of these
Resolutions have been incorporated in the draft regulations.
Detailed guidelines are available from the Department of Health on the
feeding options for infants whose mothers are HIV positive, as treatment of a
condition cannot be legislated.
For more information contact:
Bhungani Mzolo
Tel: 012 312 3331
Cell: 079 52 484 32
Issued by: Department of Health
1 November 2007
