MANILA – The Food and Drugs Administration is urging the consuming public to report violations of the Milk Code of 1986 by companies.

This is the reason the FDA will scale up its campaign against milk companies violating the country's existing law on milk by coming up with a website where the public can report violations. FDA chief for Legal, Information and Compliance Division Emil Polig said there is still widespread violation of the law.

This, despite the revision of the rules of regulations of the Code and the improvement of the regulatory functions of the Inter-agency Committee overseeing the implementation of the Code, Polig said.

He said milk companies continue to promote their products by ignoring and circumventing the law. Because of this, the FDA thought of coming up with the website to enable the public to report violations easily.

Polig said through the website www.milkcodephilippines.org the FDA will also be able to update the public on the developments of their complaints and on other developments and information on breastfeeding.

The FDA and the Department of Health have engaged the services of the League of Cities of the Philippines to develop the website with the support of the World Health Organization.

According to the Supreme Court, parties involved have agreed the "best nourishment for an infant is mother's milk."

With this, the court ruled, among others, that milk companies may no longer sponsor maternity classes in hospitals, health facilities or anywhere else, among pregnant and nursing mothers, as they did for the last 20 years.

The court also said milk companies may no longer give travel grants, free samples, financial incentives and scientific literature directly to doctors, without prior approval of the Department of Health and the Inter-Agency Committee.

At the same time, milk firms are forbidden to have point-of-sale advertising, give away samples and other promotional items, etc. directly to consumers at retail level.*PNA

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