Baby Milk Action have published the story of a former Nestle representative who has gone public over the activities in which he and colleagues were involved in order to promote infant formula. The testimony is a serious indictment of Nestle's marketing activities, providing direct evidence of major violations of the WHO Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes.

In March 1997 in Pakistan, a former Nestle sales representative, Syed Aamar Raza, was waiting to talk to a doctor, when a baby was brought into the waiting room dying. After the doctor had attended to the dead child and informed the parents, Aamar innocently asked 'Why did this baby die?' The doctor answered 'Because of marketing by people like you'. Aamar was so shocked that he gave up his job with Nestle and decided to expose their sales techniques. This is his story.

In 1994 Aamar was employed by Nestle as a young sales representative to promote breast milk substitutes and infant cereals in Pakistan. He learnt how to run popular baby shows for both health workers and the public where he could make direct contact with mothers and promote the company's range of breast milk substitutes. He was instructed to give free gifts (including cash) to doctors, with cheques signed by his bosses. Nurses were treated to free lipstick and perfume; doctors were given lunches and air tickets. A consultant was given two air conditioning units on condition that only Nestle products be used in his hospital.

Aamar's salary was performance related. If the sales of baby milk in his area were good, he would receive bonuses which were two or even three times his regular salary. He was even given sales targets to meet in every town of a special Nestle formula which should only be used in rare cases of lactose intolerance.

Every one of these activities is prohibited by the WHO Code. Nestle has its own version of the code, known as the 'Charter', which Aamar retrieved, and he describes how confused he was by the fact that his bosses had told him to do all these things which the Charter says that Nestle does not do.

The child whose life the doctor could not save while Aamar was waiting in his office had been breastfed for one month. Then a different doctor had prescribed infant formula, the child developed severe diarrhoea and died two months later. In Pakistan 26% of the population do not have access to safe water and 53% do not have access to adequate sanitation.

Where water is unsafe a bottle-fed child is up to 25 times more likely to die as a result of diarrhoea than a breastfed child. At no point in Aamar's training with Nestle had anyone mentioned the risks associated with bottle feeding, particularly in a developing country like Pakistan.

Aamar was so disgusted that he immediately resigned from Nestle but kept all his documentary evidence, internal memos, sales receipts, wage slips and so forth. He took legal advice and issued a Legal Notice to Nestle, asking that they withdraw all their infant food products from Pakistan. Shortly afterwards, he was summonsed on a pretext to his former superiors, including the Group Brand Manager and the Area

Detailing Executive. They offered to buy his silence with large sums of money, and threatened him with 'serious consequences' including threats to kidnap his family or even murder if he persisted in his efforts to discredit Nestle.

Aamar has learned to be cautious and worked with the World Health Organisation and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) to produce a report based on his evidence. Called Milking Profits it was launched in London on 15th February 2000. Nestle have dismissed its findings and claim that they have evidence of an attempt by Aamar to blackmail them. When asked by IBFAN to produce this evidence, they did not do so. The legal action continues. Meanwhile, the media have been asked by IBFAN to make Aamar's story public to make it impossible for violent action to be taken against him or his family.

Milking Profits is available from Baby Milk Action, 23 St Andrews Street, Cambridge CB2 3AX. Price £5.50

inc p&p.

On the morning of 27th February six gun shots were fired at Syed Aamar Raza's house. Syed's brother escaped unhurt after the shots entered through the upstairs window. Local police are now investigating the attack.

Syed Aamar Raza, whose life has been threatened, has fled to England.