Abstract

In October 1984, the International Nestlé Boycott Committee announced the termination of a seven-year consumer boycott of Nestlé Corp., one of the world's largest food companies. The boycott was organized because of Nestlé's alleged marketing abuses in promoting and selling infant formula products in less developed nations. The Nestlé boycott became virtually synonymous with the infant formula controversy and was an important factor in the development, adoption and implementation of the World Health Organization's international code of marketing for breastmilk substitutes. The Nestlé boycott has had a major impact on the interpretation of corporate accountability and the reconciliation of human rights and commercial interests. The infant formula controversy has meant different things to different people. To many health professionals and public health administrators, it was a crusade for improvement in infant and young child health. To some activists, it was a campaign against the power and influence of multinational business corporations.