Complementary Feeding, the Code, and the Codex

Abstract

The principal international instruments regulating the composition and marketing of processed complementary foods are the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes, adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981, subsequent relevant World Health Assembly Resolutions, and the Codex Alimentarius Standards for Canned Baby Foods and for Processed Cereal-Based Foods for Infants and Children. The Code and Resolutions emphasize the use of a variety of locally available foods in addition to breastmilk in ensuring a balanced diet for infants from around the age of six months. Complementary foods should not be marketed in ways that interfere with breastfeeding, and governments should support education for parents in the appropriate feeding of infants.