Paris, June 17th, 2021
- Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) ranks Danone number1 globally in its Breast Milk Substitute (BMS) and Complementary Foods (CF) Marketing Index with an overall score of 68%.
- The ATNI BMS Marketing Index evaluates the alignment of a company’s marketing policies and practices with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 1981 Code for the Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes (baby formula) and all subsequent relevant World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions.
- Danone’s leadership position re-affirms the company’s commitment to pursuing full compliance with the WHO Code for the Marketing of Breast Milk Substitutes by 2030 in collaboration with all relevant partners.
The Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) today published its BMS/CF Marketing Index that ranked Danone first with a score of 68%, which also represents a significant improvement on the company’s 2018 score of 46% in this category.
ATNI acknowledged Danone’s work to strengthen its overarching commitments to the responsible marketing of breast milk substitutes, particularly with regards to its applicability to and implementation in its affiliates across the globe.
The ranking reflects Danone’s approach to ethical marketing of breast milk substitutes based on its far-reaching and industry-leading policies to protect and promote breastfeeding. Danone is the first company to prohibit the promotion of breast milk substitutes for children aged 0-6 months anywhere in the world, even where it is still permitted by local law.
“We welcome ATNI’s assessment as we strongly believe that external monitoring raises the compliance and integrity of marketing practices of individual companies, and ultimately, the entire industry’’ said Jean Marc Magnaudet, President Danone Specialized Nutrition.
“Parents place their trust in us and we aim to repay that trust by ensuring that every parent feels supported with truthful, science-based information about nutrition options for their child, and by providing this information in a responsible, transparent and open way.’’
The ranking builds on other recent external verifications of Danone’s leadership position in responsible marketing of breast milk substitutes. In 2020 Danone was re-certified for the 5th consecutive year as a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series. Danone is 1 of only 3 breast milk substitute manufacturers included in the FTSE4Good Index Series, a global responsible investment index series, measuring performance of companies across Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices.
As an “Entreprise à Mission” or purpose-driven company, Danone works to protect, promote and support breastfeeding to improve infant and maternal nutrition and health locally. This achievement in the 2021 ATNI BMS Marketing Global Index reiterates Danone’s long-term commitment to high standards of societal and environmental performance.
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