The government has threatened to "name and shame" eight multinational producers of infant milk formula for repeatedly violating a government code of ethics, reports said today.

Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said the manufacturers had broken the code by giving samples to breast-feeding mothers, advertising without permit and providing incentives to traders, the New Straits Times said.

Chua said the eight would be barred from introducing new products for one year, but that as fines did not deter them from breaking the code their names may be released to the media.

"These offenders can appeal and co-operate but if they choose not to, then we will disclose their names," he said according to the daily.

Chua said the code of ethics was drawn up by the Health Ministry in line with recommendations made by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which has championed breastfeeding in the face of promotion of infant formula by manufacturers.

Few mothers breastfeed

The Star daily cited Chua as saying that only 29 percent of Malaysian mothers breastfed exclusively for six months, as advocated by the WHO.

"The rest only breastfeed for a week or a month," he said.

The minister said that some companies had obtained names of pregnant women and forwarded products to them, a practice which hampered the government's efforts to promote mother's milk as the best source of nutrition for newborns.

Chua said that of the 12 multinational companies manufacturing infant formula, only four complied with the code - the Swiss food giant Nestle, and Japan's Meiji, Snow and Takaso.

Some of the other household names of infant formula marketed in Malaysia are Wyeth, Mead-Johnson, Abott and Milupa.