Months after pharmacists criticised the accuracy of milk-formula advertisements, six major manufacturers have joined up to draft a code of practice governing marketing.
Mead Johnson Nutrition, Nestle Hong Kong, Wyeth, Friesland Campina, Danone Baby Nutrition and Abbott Laboratories, which account for 90 per cent of the local milk-formula market, have formed the Hong Kong Infant and Young Child Nutrition Association.
They aim to release a code on the promotion of milk formula targeting babies up to six months old. It could be out before the government introduces its own voluntary guidelines for the industry this year.
While details of the code had yet to be finalised, the association would consider advising makers to add reminders about the advantages of breastfeeding in their ads, vice-president Florence Wong said.
The association's initiative comes after the Society of Hospital Pharmacists complained in April that some ads claiming milk formula could facilitate brain development or prevent constipation were misleading.
The code is based on international guidelines for marketing breast-milk substitutes drawn up by the World Health Organisation in 1981, according to the association. 'The WHO recommends that each region make its own localised guidelines. There are similar codes in New Zealand and Singapore,' president Clarence Chung said.