Lactalis
Score 2024
Score
Score
Important:
The research findings regarding companies’ performance in this Index are based on information shared by companies or gathered by service providers, in addition to information that is available in the public domain.
The level of detail and comprehensiveness of information shared by companies and gathered through external service providers varied. In the case of limited or no engagement by companies, this Index may not represent the full extent of their efforts. Similarly, in the case of limited data collected by service providers, the findings of this Index may not provide a comprehensive representation of company practices.
ATNI’s research and Indexes do not assess compliance with local regulations or laws, but rather assess private sector performance against international standards and guidance.
CF Country Studies
Score
The Country Studies component of the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 evaluates the extent to which a company’s marketing practices align with specific provisions of the WHO Code not against local Code-related regulations). The main marketing channels assessed in the Country Studies for the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 are online points-of-sale, traditional and online media outlets, and product labels which were all assessed according to the NetCode protocol. Lactalis only sells CF products in the US, one of the five countries selected for the assessment, which represents 100% of Lactalis’s estimated global CF sales. The Country Studies results for Lactalis are summarized below for the US and across each marketing channel.
Country Studies overview
| Lactalis | Country assessments | CF market | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total incidences of non-compliance across online, traditional media, and product labels | Number of product labels assessed | Company brands found | CF market share | Proportion of Lactalis's global CF sales | |
| CHINA | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| GERMANY | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| INDONESIA | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| US | 11 | 2 | Stonyfield | <5% | 100% |
| VIET NAM | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
(0 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 100%)
(>0-10 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 66%)
(>10-20 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 33%)
(> 20 incidences of Code non-compliance corresponding to a country score of 0%)
Observed incidences of non-compliance with the Code per country
food < 6 months of age
food 6-36 months of age
Main in-country findings
The total number of incidences of non-compliant marketing practices for Lactalis that were found in the US was 11.
For the US market, the majority of incidences of non-compliant marketing practices observed for Lactalis were identified through the social listening of online platforms (9). The remaining two incidences of non-compliance were for inappropriate CF product labels (2). On traditional media, no incidences of non-compliance were found in the six months the channels were monitored.
Online findings
• The total incidences of non-compliance found online (9), were all found on the company’s local social media platforms. No point-of-sale promotions were found on online retail channels in the eight weeks the channels were monitored.
• From the online advertisements of Lactalis’ CF products found in US, an average of three incidences of non-compliance were identified with each observation. All the advertisements were missing the statement on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond, as well as a statement with clear recommended age of introduction. Four out of nine of the online advertisements observed included marketing claims, followed by health (3) and nutritional claims (2).
Traditional media findings
• On traditional media, no incidences of non-compliance were found for Lactalis CF products during the six-months the channels were monitored.
CF product label
• The total number of Lactalis CF products assessed was two in the US.
• All CF products assessed in the US were found to be clearly marketed as suitable for older infants and young children between six months and up to three years of age. For all Lactalis product labels assessed, at least one incident of Code non-compliance was observed. The average number of incidences of non-compliance per product label assessed was five.
• All Lactalis CF labels assessed in the US had all three types of claims including marketing, nutritional and health. Also, none of the product labels included a statement on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond.
• Another incidence of non-compliance was observed in both products including an image, text, or other representation that may suggest use for infants under the age of 6 months. One of the two product labels assessed was found to contain text, image or other element that can be considered to undermine or discourage appropriate complementary feeding. In addition, both labels were found to contain an endorsement by a professional, in this case by mentioning that it was recommended by pediatricians.
Recommendations
• Given the incidences of non-compliant marketing practices for CF products observed, Lactalis is encouraged to consider the gaps identified to improve its CF marketing practices in the US such that they fully align with the requirements of the Code. The WHA 69.9 supported guidance includes recommendations around which messages should be present on CF labels to support optimal infant and young child feeding, and which are inappropriate and could undermine recommended practices. Lactalis should incorporate these recommendations in their policies and practices and apply them to their CF products, as none of the CF products in this assessment fully met these requirements. Examples of aspects that the company can improve across all platforms include restricting the use of all types of claims as defined by WHO Europe’s Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model for all forms of CF marketing. The company should also refrain from including endorsements by professionals like pediatricians.
• None of the online advertisements of CF or the CF labels from Lactalis that were assessed in the US included a statement on the importance of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond, which is a Code requirement as per recommendation 4 of the guidance on inappropriate promotion of foods for infants and young children supported by WHA resolution 69.9 The company should aim to address missing statements on exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of life and continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond.
• Lactalis is strongly encouraged to take responsibility for monitoring its marketing practices beyond local regulations, according to the principles and the aim of the Code and subsequent relevant resolutions, and to take steps to ensure this includes online media channels.
• ATNI is calling on Lactalis to review all incidences of non-compliance identified across all marketing channels, which were shared in detail with the company, and to take corrective action in the US.
CF Corporate Profile
Score
The Corporate Profile component of the BMS and CF Marketing Indexes 2024 evaluates the extent to which a company’s policies align with various provisions of the Code, the effectiveness of its related management systems as well as the company’s level of disclosure on commitments relating to CF marketing. Lactalis’s CF marketing commitments were assessed across 9 topics that cover different aspects of the Code yielding an average score that is equivalent to the company’s initial overall Corporate Profile score before a geographic penalty (if applicable) is applied. A company that is found to market CF for infants under six months of age only gets half of the initial overall Corporate Profile score (this is identified by one of the indicators in the first topic on “Guiding Principles of Infant and Young Child Feeding”). As described in the findings on the topic “Guiding Principles of Infant and Young Child Feeding” below, Lactalis was found to market CF products for infants under six months of age, therefore its initial overall Corporate Profile score was halved from 2% to 1%. The final Corporate Profile score considers how the company’s marketing commitments are applied across different markets for CF products intended for older infants and young children between six months up to three years of age (CF 6-36 months). The next section ‘Geographic application of CF commitments by product type’ shows how the company’s application of commitments for CF 6-36 months was evaluated. The scores and findings on each topic are described in further detail in the section below on ‘CF Commitments by Topic’.
Geographic application by Lactalis of CF commitments by product type
The percentage of product sales where commitments are upheld, and the geographic penalty applied to CF products intended for older infants and young children aged six months up to three years. The penalty ranges from 0% up to 90% depending on whether a company fully upholds its CF marketing commitments in all or none of the countries in which it operates, respectively, where national Code regulations are absent or less stringent than the company’s policies and standards.
|
Corporate Profile score before penalty |
Product type |
Percentage of Lactalis’s global sales from markets where CF commitments are upheld |
Geographic penalty applied |
Final Corporate Profile score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1% |
Commercial complementary foods 6-36 months |
0% | 90% | 0.1% |
Commercial Complementary Foods
No information was found in the public domain nor shared by the company describing if and where (in what markets) marketing commitments are upheld for CF 6-36 products. Therefore, the corresponding geographic penalty is the maximum of 90% and the final Corporate Profile score is 0,09%.
ATNI calls on Lactalis to consider the expanded definition of the Code, following the World Health Assembly resolution 69.9 recommendations that cover and address the responsible marketing of commercially produced complementary foods intended for older infants and young children aged 6–36 months.
Topics Overview
CF commitments by topic
Most topics include both policy commitments and management systems except for ‘Guiding principles of infant and young child feeding’ which only considers policy commitments, ‘Implementation and Monitoring’ which only considers management systems, and ‘Disclosure’ which only considers the level of disclosure of identified commitments. ‘Lobbying and Policy Influence’ is the only topic that includes policy commitments, management systems and disclosure.