Byrne backs ‘breast is best’ campaign for mothers

Date: 19/09/02

HEALTH Commissioner David Byrne has launched a campaign to promote breast-feeding.

The former Irish attorney-general said the Commission will plough more than €600,000 into a study to find the best examples of breast-feeding projects in the Union.

The results would then help health agencies 'develop strategies and plans for breast-feeding promotion at national and local levels'.

The two-year scheme is the latest in a long line of EU efforts to make mothers aware that breast-feeding gives babies the best start in life, even if some working mums have to turn to formula milk when they restart jobs.

Byrne said: 'When it is possible and not contra-indicated, breast-feeding is the best way of feeding infants and mothers should be encouraged to do so.'

He said an existing EU directive forced infant formula milk manufacturers to indicate the superiority of breast-feeding on packaging.

His comments follow concerns voiced by Belgian MEP Bart Staes that some formula milks may contain potentially deadly strains of bacteria.

Staes said scientists in the Netherlands have found that one bacteria, enterobacter sakazaki, which can cause meningitis-type symptoms, was 'regularly present' in dried baby food.

However, Byrne said he was aware of only one case in April in which a baby had died after becoming infected by infant formula.

He said the EU's 'rapid alert system' against dangerous food products had worked well in that case.

Health Commissioner David Byrne has launched a campaign to promote breast-feeding.