Of the 26 paediatricians interviewed, 13 reported that parents “often” feed the Bear Brand coffee creamer to infants as a substitute for breast milk. Eleven reported that parents “sometimes” feed the product to infants. Paediatricians in Vientiane reported that mothers use the product when they return to work. In the countryside poor families use the product as a breast milk substitute when the mother is ill or dies.
Paediatricians have encountered infants and children admitted to hospital with protein calorie malnutrition who had been fed this product exclusively and often reported similar stories (see box).