ຜົນການວິໃຈຂອງ Dr Leila Srou ທີ່ ຕີພິມໃນວາລະສານ the British Medical Journal ກ່ຽວກັບການນຳໃຊ້ໂລໂກອັນດຽວກັນຂອງນົມທີ່ໃຊ້ລ້ຽງເດັກນ້ອຍແລະຄຮີມທີ່ໃຊ້ໃນກະເຟ ຂອງກາໝີນັ້ນ ອາດຈະເຮັດໃຫ້ເກີດຄວາມເຂົ້າໃຈຜິດແລະເກີດຄວາມສັບສົນໃຫ້ພໍ່ແມ່ຄົນລາວ ຕໍ່ກັບການນຳໃຊ້ແລະກໍ່ໃຫ້ເກີດຜົນເສຍຫາຍຕາມມາໄດ້. ລາຍລະອຽດເພີ່ມເຕີມອ່ານຕື່ມໄດ້ຈາກຂ້າງລຸ່ມນີ້:
New research published in the British Medical Journal warns that parents in Laos may be inadvertently feeding their babies coffee creamer, mistaking it for infant formula. The researchers say Bear Brand, which manufactures both infant formula and coffee creamer, uses the same logo on both products, showing a mother bear cradling a baby bear. Following interviews with health workers and parents, the researchers say warnings on coffee creamer packaging not to use it as baby food are insufficient, and say they want Nestle Thailand to use a different logo on these products.
Presenter: Lily Yan Speakers: Nestle Thailand (statement); Dr Leila Srour, University of Health Sciences, Vientiane, Laos, and co-author of research published in British Medical Journal
YAN: When Dr Leila Srour walked into a peasant's home in a remote area in Laos six years ago, she was shocked by what she found. Eight children, the youngest being five months old, were being fed coffee creamer by their father as a milk substitute after the death of their mother. The father showed Dr Srour a bottle of Bear Brand coffee creamer made by Nestle Thailand. He told her it was good for babies because of Nestle's logo of a mother bear breastfeeding a baby bear on the bottle of the creamer. This accidental discovery alerted Dr Srour to contact local paediatricians to find out if this was a widespread problem.
SROUR: I talked to paediatricians in different parts of the country, to find out if they were aware of the problem, and most of them were aware of the problem but did not know what to do.
YAN: In 2006 and 2007, a number of paediatricians in Laos conducted national surveys about the usage of the Nestle Bear Brand coffee creamer. The results were alarming.
SROUR: The findings show that many people think because of the logo, that this product is intended to feed babies when it is not.
YAN: This week, the British Medical Journal has published the findings of paediatricians' surveys - that the sale of Nestle Bear Brand coffee creamer places the health of infants and children at risk in Laos which already has extreme levels of malnutrition. Four years ago, one of Nestl�'s marketing representative visited Laos.
SROUR: At that time they were doing an advertising campaign to the public about formula, and they agreed to stop advertising directly to consumers about their formula products, but they said that they would not change this logo on their coffee creamer. They said that this is their logo and they can't change it.
YAN: What Nestle did do was to add a written warning as well as a cross through a feeding bottle on the creamer's label. But the medical surveys show that nearly half of the respondents did not notice the new label's warning. Health workers in Laos have repeatedly requested Nestle Thailand to remove the logo but Nestle is yet to respond. Radio Australia approached Nestle Thailand for a comment. Its legal department released this statement:
NESTLE STATEMENT: "The said product shows explicit warnings both in text and with a pictogram, that the product not be used as a breastmilk substitute. Also we need to point out that we have never done any promotional activities whatsoever for the product."
YAN: In its statement, Nestle Thailand said the sale of Bear Brand coffee creamer to Laos had been discontinued since February. However, Nestle has not responded to the question if similar products are being sold in Laos, or if the original Bear Brand creamer is being sold in other parts of Asia.
