The Truth Behind the Chocolate
TIKE
|
Times Writer | |
In last week??s installment of the Times, an article talked about the company Nestle producing milk, which eventually kills infants. Curious towards this topic myself, I decided to find out the answer and in trying to do so, did quite a lot of reading. This is what I came up with??
I typed in the general question "Doe Nestle Milk kill?" and was bombarded with informative sites. The first one I entered talked about the actual ethics of marketing baby milk formula in nations that are underdeveloped. The writer of that first Times article dealing with Nestle and the company killing babies is correct. However, the issue is more complicated than how she presented it initially.
You see, breast milk is crucial for newborn babies, but in poor nations, women who are undernourished cannot breast feed properly. In addition, it is proven that the HIV virus (which is extremely common in underdeveloped countries) can be passed down by breast-milk. If a woman cannot produce or use her breast milk, she must rely on other sources to do so. This is where the Nestle Company steps in.
Nestle is a major manufacture of infant formula across the globe. They take every advantage of this circumstance to increase their own profits, perhaps at the expense of other, less fortunate individuals. Instead of providing breast-milk like the baby requires, they encourage mothers to give their babies formula in the second or third weeks of a newborn??s life, when it isn??t advocated to be taken. In addition, the child is given milk from a cow, which is not recommended for human intake, particularly babies. The formula itself is expensive, and although it is a necessity for survival, it cuts into the family's already diminished income. However, do not take my word for it. Below is a quote taken from an individual who attends a university and studies at the Center of Ethics. The quote itself was published in a summer 2001 article.
"In the developing world, one baby dies every 30 seconds from unsafe bottle-feeding . This is due to the policies of Nestle in particular, which controls about 40% of the world-wide infant formula market and is at present the target of a boycott because of its 'unethical and irresponsible marketing of breast-milk substitutes'."
Nevertheless, it is not just the company Nestle who is taking part in this; other companies known world-wide, such as Cow and Gate, are involved. I actually visited their web-site to find out more about the company itself. There, I found this declaration:
"At Cow & Gate, we have over 100 years of experience in making safe and wholesome milks and foods for generations of babies. We start by making sure we know everything about the ingredients we use in our baby milks and foods. Best of all, we like to make sure that our milk, fruit, vegetables, cereals and meat ingredients are grown especially for us."
--http://www.cowandgate.co.uk/en/article.asp?chco_id=20&chli_id=15
You cannot actually be sure if Nestle and other companies such as Cow and Gate know exactly what they are doing, for it could be "his word against mine", and disagreements about the scientific validity of some of these statistics. However, from time to time, Nestle sends representatives over to developing countries, all wearing white so that they seem more ??knowledgeable?? on the subject matter. Workers go to different hospitals, handing out free samples of their product, trying to encourage the use of their product. The unfortunate fact is:
"After the newborns have become dependent on formula as their sole source of nutrition, and the mother's milk has dried up through lack of demand, the free samples stop coming."
--http://www.emory.edu/ETHICS/news/2001/may/formula.htm
So, how does the infant die, exactly? I would not necessarily say Nestle kills them; however, families just cannot afford the product themselves. Either the parents will go without food in order to provide the formula to their infant, or the child will become severely malnourished, and this can result in death.
Unlike other articles, I am not going to add my personal opinion in. It seems like a topic that requires a lot of information before you make a judgement yourself. I'm sure there are more facts out there, both pro and con. However, I will say that it is shocking to know that this problem has been around at least since the summer of 2001, if not long before, and I have never heard about it until the article in last week??s Whyville Times.
What do you think? Is what Nestle doing unethical or is it all right? I believe that giving up your Nestle chocolate is a matter of personal choice. If you feel very strongly about this -- is there something you can do to provoke some awareness?
Gossip Folks,
-TIKE
Work Cited
Emory University ?? Center for Ethics:
http://www.emory.edu/ETHICS/news/2001/may/formula.htm
Cow and Gate Website (About Us):
http://www.cowandgate.co.uk/en/article.asp?chco_id=20&chli_id=15
Genetically Engineered Foods Debate:
http://www.valdosta.edu/~rgoddard/intro/GE_fooddebate.htm
|
