How did the code of the International Council of Infant Food Industries (ICIFI) fit the marketing

strategies of the food companies, and how did the code developed by Abbott Laboratories fit the
marketing strategies of the drug companies?

In ICIFI, they mention about three main point that Nestlé and several food companies

formed the International Council of Infant Food Industries (ICIFI) and pledged to adopt a code of
marketing ethics.

—Product information for the public will always recognize that breast-milk is the feeding of
choice . . . Product labeling will affirm breast-feeding as the first choice for the nutrition of infants . . .

—Explicitly worded instructions and demonstrations for product use will be provided. . . . In
cooperation with health authorities, professional communications and educational materials will be
provided to caution against misuse . . .

—Individual contacts by mothercraft personnel and issuance of complimentary supplies of

breast-milk substitutes will be in consultation with medical or nursing personnel. . . . Mothercraft
personnel will support doctors . . . and will not discourage mothers from . . . breast-feeding.

Code of international Council of Infant food make a guideline for different food industry based
companies to give a specific level of the food supplement in the respective environment. Similar
methodology is applied on the medical or medical industry based companies where availability of the
influence of the specific guidelines for providing educator level of support to deliver infant food in their
respective environment.

The ICIFI code, however, did not address how the companies should or should not promote their
formulas to mothers, nor whether the formulas should be distributed, made available, and sold to
mothers who might not be able to use them correctly. Abbott Laboratories and the other drug
companies did not believe that the ICIFI code adequately addressed what they claimed was the major
problem: advertising the formulas directly to consumers. Abbott Laboratories developed its own code of
ethics that stated, in part, the following:

• We believe that unsupervised, direct promotion of infant feeding products to mothers can
unjustly impel them to make decisions concerning the care and nutrition of their babies for which they
may lack adequate medical or nutritional knowledge. Therefore, we do not advertise our products
through general circulation magazines, directories, newspapers, radio, television, billboards, and other
public mass media.

• We do not encourage use of our products where private purchase would impose a financial
hardship on the family, or where inadequate facilities for preparation constitute a hazard to infant
health.

Code created by Abbott Laboratories is also affecting the method of operation of different
association as they need to adjust it to the standard of operation in the international environment for
other specific drug companies as well as for the Abbott Laboratories work in different countries.