Students Demand Boycott Of Nestle Corp. Products

Several students in Lowell House began circulating a petition last night asking Harvard Food Services to boycott products made by the Nestle Corporation because of the company's marketing practices in the Third World.

Cory Stone '79-3, organizer of the petition drive, said yesterday that the Nestle Corporation, known for its chocolate goods, is creating an artificial demand in Third World countries for the infant formula it also produces.

A spokesman for the Nestle Corporation yesterday denied that the infant formula was not useful. He said that it supplies a baby with necessary vitamins which it would not receive from the milk of an undernourished mother.

Stone said that "the petition is an important preliminary step and a means of measuring student support of the issue."

Benjamin H. Walcott, assistant director of Food Services, said routine decisions on whether or not to continue the purchase of Nestle products will be made in the next several weeks.

Quality Decision

This decision will be based solely on the value and quality of the products being considered, Walcott said. He said that a decision to boycott the Nestle Corporation would have to be made at a higher administrative level.

Opponents of the Nestle Corporation claim that Nestle's actions produce a rise in the infant mortality rates in Third World countries.

Stone says that due to lack of money women are unable to purchase enough formula to supply their children with proper nourishment, and that children may become seriously ill from drinking unsanitary formula.

Both of these problems would be avoided if women continued to breast-feed their children.

No Increased Deaths

Henry G. Ciocca, assistant secretary of the Nestle Corporation, said yesterday that Nestle's infant formula has not caused an increase in infant deaths, adding that any risks that did exist are being lessened through programs that educate mothers about the use of infant formula.

Ciocca said that doctors and missionaries have delivered testimonials upon the effectiveness of the formulas.

Lois Happe, coordinator of the Boston chapter of INFACT (Infant Formula Action Coalition), said yesterday that boycotts of Nestle have received strong support on other college campuses, including Wellesley College.

In previous years, shareholder resolutions asking other companies that market infant formulas in the Third World to curtail their sales in those areas have come before the University's Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR).

One company, Bristol Meyers, has agreed to study the infant formula question as a result of the shareholder resolutions.