Islamabad: Terming the marketing of breast milk substitutes in Pakistan a matter of “life and death” for infants, the Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services on Thursday directed the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan and the federal health ministry to ensure clear warnings on formula milk advertisements and packs, stating that mother’s milk is the best nutrition for infants and that formula milk is not a substitute for breastfeeding.
The committee, chaired by Senator Amir Waliuddin Chishti, also opposed any move to shift the regulation of breast milk substitutes from federal authorities to provincial food departments, arguing that provincial food authorities were already struggling to ensure safe and unadulterated milk for adults and could not be entrusted with regulating infant nutrition products.
“DRAP should write to PEMRA and formula milk marketing companies to ensure that every advertisement carries a clear message that mother’s milk is the best nutrition for a child and that breast milk substitutes are nowhere near mother’s milk in nutritional value,” Senator Chishti directed officials of DRAP and the Ministry of National Health Services during the meeting.
Committee members accused formula milk companies of making exaggerated and misleading claims, including suggestions that their products could enhance children’s intelligence, improve IQ or turn them into unusually healthy or “super” children. They asked DRAP to take punitive action against companies using such claims in their marketing, packaging or media campaigns.
Senator Chishti said only around 2,000 children out of more than six million born in Pakistan every year genuinely required formula milk due to specific medical conditions, yet breast milk substitute products worth Rs130 to Rs150 billion were being sold annually in the country.
“Because of misleading marketing, many parents begin to view formula milk as a superior food and spend a major portion of their monthly income on these products, even though most children do not need them. Every child is born with the most nutritious food available to them in the form of mother’s milk,” he observed.
The committee chairman said senior religious scholars, including Council of Islamic Ideology Chairman Mufti Raghib Naeemi, had also emphasized that mothers should follow Islamic and Quranic teachings by breastfeeding their children for at least two years. He said infants should receive nothing except mother’s milk during the first six months of life, not even water, unless medically advised otherwise.
Members of the committee praised Sindh’s legislation on breast milk substitutes, which restricts marketing of formula milk and complementary packaged food for children, and called for similar laws at the federal level and in other provinces.
Describing formula milk manufacturers and marketers as a powerful “mafia”, members said they were being pressured not to raise the issue, but vowed to continue scrutiny because infant feeding was directly linked with child survival, nutrition and immunity.
The committee also rejected any plan to hand over regulation of formula milk or breast milk substitutes to provincial food authorities and asked DRAP to strongly contest the matter before the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Members said they would not allow any legislation or regulatory change that went against the interests of children and families.
Senator Agha Shahzaib Durrani raised concern over what he described as false and deceptive claims by formula milk companies, saying parents were being influenced through aggressive marketing to believe that packaged milk could replace breastfeeding or improve a child’s mental and physical abilities. He said such claims should be examined strictly and companies violating the law should face penalties.
Senator Masroor Ahsan and Senator Sarmad Ali also supported stronger front-of-pack warnings and called for tighter monitoring of electronic, print and digital media advertisements. They said messages promoting formula milk must not mislead parents or undermine breastfeeding.
Officials were directed to coordinate with PEMRA and relevant regulatory bodies to ensure that advertisements, labels and promotional material for breast milk substitutes carry prominent health warnings and do not make unverified claims.
The committee observed that breastfeeding not only provides ideal nutrition but also protects infants against infections and disease, while inappropriate use of formula milk, particularly in poor households with unsafe water and unhygienic feeding practices, can expose children to serious health risks.
Members said the issue was not merely commercial or regulatory but a public health emergency requiring federal oversight, strict enforcement and stronger legal safeguards for infants and mothers.
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