The Code
Resources
These resources offer support and guidance on the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (the Code).
Resources produced by the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative:
- About the Code informational page
- The Guide to the Code for Health Workers
- Research on marketing and the Code
Materials and areas of support relevant to the UK:
- The full International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (the Code) and subsequent resolutions
- Guidance from the UK Government on Infant and follow-on formula and food for special medical purposes
- First Steps Nutrition Trust’s range of reports about infant formulas in the UK
- Working within the Code (Dr Helen Crawley, Baby Friendly Annual Conference, 2015)
Further resources and videos (please note these have a more international context)
Resources and guides:
- National implementation of the International Code, status report (WHO, 2024)
- How social media and influencer marketing undermine informed choice (Save the Children, 2024)
- Protecting Infant and Young Child Nutrition from Industry Interference and Conflicts of Interest (Global Breastfeeding Collective, 2023)
- Guidance on regulatory measures aimed at restricting digital marketing of breast-milk substitutes (WHO, 2023)
- What I Should Know About ‘the Code’ (UNICEF, 2023)
- Sponsorship of health professional and scientific meetings by companies that market foods for infants & young children (WHO, 2023)
- Scope and impact of digital marketing strategies for promoting breastmilk substitutes (WHO, 2022)
- The impact of formula milk marketing on infant feeding decisions and practices (WHO, 2022)
- A Quick Guide to the Code (Alive and Thrive and UNICEF, 2022)
- Effective regulatory frameworks for ending inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes and foods in the WHO European Region (WHO, 2022)
- The role of midwives and nurses in protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding: advocacy brief (WHO, 2021)
- FAQs on the roles and responsibilities of health workers in the Code (WHO, 2020)
- 2016 joint statement by the UN Special Rapporteurs (OHCHR, 2016)
Videos and webinars
- 77th World Health Assembly Side Event on Digital Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes (Global Breastfeeding Collective, 2024)
- You See, They See: Formula milk marketing and infant feeding (WHO, 2022)
- The Problem With Formula Milk Industry Webinars (Global Breastfeeding Collective, 2022)
- The impact of infant formula marketing Lancet Series (WHO, 2022)
- Voices of Mothers Video From the Code at 40 Celebration (Global Breastfeeding Collective, 2021)
- History and Future of the Code (Alive and Thrive, 2021)
