Taller, stronger, smarter: The baseless claims used to sell ‘toddler milk’ powder

The federal government is fuelling the sale of expensive “toddler milks” to families in poorer nations, backing the rise of an ultra-processed product Australian health authorities have warned parents not to buy.

State government health bodies say formula drinks are unnecessary for children over 12 months, can lead to obesity and tooth decay, and make children more likely to reject healthier options.

But the Australian government is using trade missions and taxpayer-funded grants to boost exports to India, South-East Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, after opposing efforts by developing countries to pass stricter regulations.

A boy in a poor province of Vietnam, who has received a tin of children’s formula as part of a giveaway promotion. Credit: Little Etoile

An investigation by the Herald and The Age has uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants flowing to Australian dairy companies whose overseas social media pages peddle baseless promises of smarter, taller children with stronger immune systems.

A Facebook page for Bellamy’s Organic, one of Australia’s largest producers, tells parents in Vietnam its junior milk product will “unlock the secret to optimal height growth”, as well as provide children born by caesarean with a “golden immunity shield”.

Nature One Dairy, which is set to merge with fruit processor SPC, posted on Facebook that parents in Indonesia should give their children two to three glasses of toddler milk a day for “maximum protection from disease” while also claiming on TikTok the drinks would improve intelligence.

“They’re really preying on parents’ fears and aspirations”, Phillip Baker, a senior research fellow at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health, said.

“It’s just pure marketing spin.”

‘Extremely unethical’ giveaways

Toddler milk and similar drinks aimed at preschoolers and schoolchildren commonly consist of powdered goat or cow’s milk with added oils, binding agents, sugars and nutrients.

The products are boom categories for the commercial milk formula industry, which generates worldwide revenues of more than $US50 billion ($78.6 billion) a year.

Bellamy’s Organic social media in Vietnam has promoted its toddler and children’s milks as a way to boost children’s height.

Like infant formula, they are prepared by mixing a powder with boiled water. Unlike infant formula, recognised as a valid source of nutrition for babies whose mothers cannot or choose not to breastfeed, the drinks for older children are widely seen as unnecessary and potentially harmful.

Queensland government’s Health and Wellbeing agency said these products were “not recommended” and posed “an increased risk of unhealthy weight gain and tooth decay”. Two years ago, VicHealth issued a warning after commissioning a study of 50 products that were often found to be high in sugar and up to four times as expensive as fresh cow’s milk.

The Australian Medical Association calls toddler milk a “myth that needs to be busted”.

But Australian dairy brands are pushing the products overseas with tactics and language far bolder than any used for consumers domestically.

Last year, Melbourne-based baby and toddler foods brand Little Etoile conducted a series of milk formula giveaways for disadvantaged children in some of the poorest provinces of Vietnam.

“Little Etoile has sent out volunteers with the hope to bring love and the best things of all, as well as complete nutrient sources to children in these regions,” the brand’s website said.

Children clutching tins of formula to their chests or balancing them on their heads were lined up for photos and videos were posted to social media.

Anthea Rhodes, a paediatrician at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, described the giveaways as “extremely unethical marketing ploys targeting vulnerable populations”.

“There is absolutely no dietary requirement for toddler milk, and in many instances, they’re actually less healthy than regular cow’s milk,” Rhodes said. “They’re higher in calories. Depending on the brand, they can have as much sugar as a soft drink.”

The peak body for toddler milk producers, the Infant Nutrition Council, said the drinks were regulated under the Food Standards Code and designed “to help supplement a young child’s diet when energy and nutrient intake may not be adequate”.

Chief executive Jonathan Chew pointed to a CSIRO meta-study, which found toddler milks “appear to offer a safe and acceptable source of complementary nutrition as a short-term strategy for addressing nutritional deficits”.

The study was funded by the industry peak body. When asked whether toddler milk producers advised short-term use only, Chew did not answer directly but said parents should talk to their GPs.

In Australia, social media posts refer to ingredients that “help support” normal growth, cognition and immunity.

In Asia, the claims go far further.

A Cambodian Facebook post by Royal AUSNZ, a NSW-based producer selling the “Premium Gold” range, touted benefits such as increased red blood cell production.

The Vietnamese Facebook page for Victorian producer Ocean Road Dairies said its toddler milk would enable children “to learn fast, retain information well and develop their cognition”.

Another Victorian brand, aPlus Milk, offered “ultimate” height growth.

Paediatrican Anthea Rhodes says toddler milks are unnecessary, expensive and can contribute to health problems. Credit: Justin McManus

“The evidence is simply not there, from a scientific point of view, for any benefit,” Rhodes said. “There’s growing evidence of potential harms and, without a doubt, costs that families should not be having to bear.”

China, the major destination for Australia’s $305 million formula export market, last year banned labels that make claims about improved intelligence, disease resistance and intestinal health.

Despite the labelling restrictions, Australian companies continue to assert these benefits on Xiaohongshu, a social media and e-commerce platform described as China’s answer to Instagram.

Bellamy’s, which is Chinese-owned but headquartered in Tasmania, posted that its product would protect against diarrhoea and “take cognition to a higher level”. A company spokesperson said the promotions complied with Chinese regulations.

A scandal, new laws – and repeated violations

The formula industry is used to controversy.

Outrage erupted in the 1970s after the multinational giant Nestle was accused of turning mothers in the developing world away from breastfeeding, increasing the risks of disease and even death in places without clean drinking water to prepare infant formula.

In response, the World Health Organisation introduced an international code designed to protect breastfeeding by curbing promotions of formula.

Government bodies describe breast milk as ideal nutrition for babies while acknowledging infant formula is a safe and valid alternative when properly prepared.

Australia adopted only parts of the code and never passed it into law, opting instead for voluntary restrictions with no penalties. The Department of Health now describes the infant formula scheme as “no longer fit-for-purpose”.

Other countries, including Vietnam and Cambodia, have gone further, issuing decrees to stop the marketing of breast milk substitutes for children under two.

But Australian companies – the same ones making misleading toddler milk claims – appear to have flouted these laws on social media channels such as TikTok and Instagram.

Over a five-year period, Bellamy’s has posted infant formula promotions on its Vietnamese Facebook page, including pictures of babies surrounded by formula tins.

A 2022 survey by researchers from Deakin University and the not-for-profit Alive and Thrive included Bellamy’s as one of three Australian companies that had violated Vietnam’s laws or contradicted their intent.

‘The countries to whom we export, we’re betraying their trust.’

Janelle Maree, Breastfeeding Advocacy Australia

Duong Vu, the Vietnam program manager at Alive and Thrive, said Australian producers were well known for breaches.

“We find that Australia and Japan are among the most aggressive violators in the Vietnam market,” said Vu, who also co-chairs the country’s Scaling Up Nutrition alliance.

Bellamy’s said in a statement it was committed to “protecting and upholding the importance of breastfeeding”.

While all marketing material had to be approved by its global legal and regulatory teams, “we have been made aware that a third-party agency recruited in Vietnam has not followed procedure, which has resulted in unapproved content”.

However, a Facebook video shows a company executive promoting infant formula during a trip to Vietnam this year.

In a further statement, Bellamy’s said it had relied on local distributors to “provide clarity and compliance”. The company is undertaking a thorough review “to ensure all marketing materials and practices align with local regulations and our brand guidelines across all markets”.

Janelle Maree, director of Breastfeeding Advocacy Australia, said she was “sickened” by the unlawful promotion of infant formula, adding that toddler milk marketing diverted mothers from breastfeeding children over 12 months.

Nature One Dairy tells its Indonesian customers to give their children two to three glasses a day for “maximum protection against disease”.

“The countries to whom we export, we’re betraying their trust,” Maree said. “They trust us as a nation to be doing things to help them, and yet here we are exploiting them.”

Taxpayer-funded grants

Despite apparent legal breaches and accusations of predatory marketing, the Australian government wants formula companies to sell more to developing nations.

Last August, Austrade officials embarked on a “nutrition mission” to increase infant formula and toddler milk sales to India. The same year, the Australian embassy in Vietnam promoted Nature One Dairy, the company behind a “smart milk” toddler drink, at an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of relations between the two countries.

Support also comes in the form of cash. In 2022, then-agriculture minister David Littleproud announced a $176,000 grant to the Infant Nutrition Council, the peak body representing infant formula and toddler milk companies, including Bellamy’s. That money, to help the industry grow in South-East Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, was followed by a $330,000 grant last year.

Another five Australian dairy businesses whose social media pages have made unfounded claims or promoted infant formula (not members of the INC) have been awarded a combined $273,000 in “export market development grants”.

Australia has a history of siding with the dairy industry over the interests of developing countries in international trade forums, according to several academic journal articles.

In 2018, Australia opposed proposals to prevent use of artificial sweeteners in toddler milks and to regulate the drinks as breast milk substitutes.

“Australia seems to be very much aligned with commercial interests in this sphere and less aligned with public health advocates,” said Katheryn Russ, a trade economist from the University of California, Davis.

When Thailand moved in 2016 to legislate a new “milk code” to increase its breastfeeding rate, one of the lowest in the world, Australia spoke in favour of its own voluntary marketing code, and argued Thailand’s laws should be as “trade-facilitating” as possible.

“Australia was part of that process that led to Thailand weakening their milk code,” Russ said.

According to her University of Sydney collaborator Phillip Baker: “It says a lot about how much we preference the interests of corporations and business relative to the interests of families, mums and children”.

Government silence

Trade Minister Don Farrell declined to comment.

Australian government departments and the Austrade agency failed to answer detailed questions. The Department of Agriculture issued a one-line statement saying the “Australian government does not involve itself in the commercial arrangements of exporters”.

Nature One Dairy and Little Etoile did not respond to questions.

Other companies blamed their Vietnamese and Cambodian distribution partners. A director of aPLUS Milk, Peter Abbott, promised to have infant formula posts and “bullshit” toddler milk claims removed.

“Whether you believe me or not, I’ve never seen this before,” Abbott said.

The chief executive responsible for the Ocean Road Dairies brand, Mahi Sundaranathan, said his company was not responsible for marketing in Vietnam and declined to say what action he would take.

“We are entirely confident that our toddler milks are a nutritionally balanced source of food for infants which are a beneficial alternative to many foods currently consumed by toddlers within Vietnam,” Sundaranathan said.

Tim Zhang, a director and owner of Royal AUSNZ, said he had told his distributors to take down improper content and stressed the need to follow local laws and regulations.

But Zhang said due to language barriers, “unfortunately, we are not capable of auditing or managing their local promotion”.

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