September 18, 2013

 

 

French baby formula manufacturer Dumex has vowed to look into reports of its staff bribing Chinese hospitals to provide its products to newborns on Monday (September 16).

 

Dumex made payments to doctors and nurses at a hospital in the northeast city of Tianjin, state-run broadcaster CCTV said, citing a former employee of the company and invoices obtained by the broadcaster.

 

The payments, of up to CNY10,000 (US$1,634) each, were made so that staff would provide newborn babies with Dumex milk, CCTV said, claiming they would become dependent on the company's products.

 

Dumex, a subsidiary of Paris-based conglomerate Danone, said in a statement it was "extremely shocked" at the allegations and would investigate.

 

"Dumex China pays great attention to the CCTV report on the promotion of products in hospitals in Tianjin. We will launch an investigation into this matter immediately," the statement said.

 

The CCTV allegations come after the authorities in the mainland launched sweeping probes into multinational companies in recent months.

 

Dumex was one of six milk formula manufacturers handed heavy fines by China's authorities for price-fixing in August, when it was ordered to pay CNY172 million (US$28 million).

 

British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has been hit by a corruption investigation which has seen 20 people arrested since the beginning of July.

 

Increasingly competitive baby-formula producing companies have targeted markets in poorer countries in recent years. Campaigners have dogged Nestle for decades, claiming the company markets its products to women who would be better off breastfeeding.

 

The number of mothers who breast feed their babies in China is among the world's lowest, which means the demand for baby milk formula is high. Only about 28% of Chinese infants under six months are breast-fed exclusively, well below this year's global average of 40%.

 

China's regulations on the marketing of breast-milk substitutes ban the advertisement of products such as baby milk formula and feeding bottles designed to be used with babies under 6 months of age.

 

Companies that sell baby formula are also banned from selling baby formula in hospitals. Producers are required to highlight words that stress the importance of breast feeding on infant formula packaging.

 

Images of babies are also banned from use in the packaging of milk powder products.