LAHORE: Pharmacies will provide infant formula products to customers only on prescription of a doctor or nurse, as per the Punjab Food Authority (Baby Food) Regulations, 2018, notified on Friday.

The clauses of regulation have prepared under section 57 of the PFA Act.The new PFA rules allow the authority to govern baby food manufacturers to promote breast feeding and discourage unnecessary synthetic products for the healthy growth of infants and children.A PFA notification states that only those products that comply with the standards as laid down in the PFA (Baby Food) Regulations, 2018, will be accepted for marketing as infant formula.

No product other than infant formula may be marketed or otherwise represented as suitable by itself the nutritional requirements of infants during the first 12 months of life.

Infant formula products under scrutiny

The regulations is applicable on baby food for infants to three years of age.

Under the regulations, businesses will not use the word ‘milk’ on their product on any other related material. Follow up formula will be different in name and design from infant formula. Products will mention in Urdu “that it is formula food for babies or children and it is not natural milk”.

No representative of any infant formula company will be allowed to approach doctors or medical practitioners for marketing of their products and promotion and marketing of infant formula products in any public or private healthcare facility and maternity centres has been completely banned. Violation of any clause of regulation will be considered offense.

Any material relating to a product may be provided to doctors through email as they are not to be approached directly by marketing agents.

Under the regulation, the sellers of infant formula will display their products at one designated place in their retail outlets, and, a notice stating “Infant Formula is not a substitute of Mother Milk” will be affixed prominently.

Formula products for grown-ups will be distinguishable by name and design from infant formula packaging.

Use of word ‘milk’ on infant formula products or their promotional material has been banned.

Every business of formula will run advertisement campaign once in a year for promotion of the breast feeding.

Halal product certification is compulsory for all infant formula products.

PFA officers are empowered to register FIR against the offender/guilty.

According to the PFA, companies are selling their products by disseminating misleading information, calling their product equal to mother feed.

PFA Director General Noorul Ameen Mengal said the companies were committing a white collar crime and now the PFA would not spare anyone found guilty under the new regulation.

He said they banned the sale of some imported infant formula for disseminating misleading information and mislabeling as 44 percent of the infants were suffering malnutrition according to National Nutrition Survey in 2012 and Pakistan stood first in infant mortality.

He said that the country also had an alarming ratio of breast cancer and the new regulation would help improve infant health and nutrition and result in curbing breast cancer cases in Pakistan.

He said they would work with the health department to promote breast feed and also take action against the companies found guilty of violating new regulations.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2018