ABBOTT APPEALS COURT DECISION
By Adnews Staff
Abbott Laboratories of Montreal has appealed a court ruling that says it has to stop promoting its new infant formula as having similar benefits to breast milk, public affairs director Mario Lebrun told Adnews last week. In July, Abbott's Ross Products division introduced Similac Advance baby formula. Ross promoted the product as having similar benefits to breast milk in a national print ad campaign, as well as in pamphlets to doctors and consumers. The campaign was created by Marlowe Advertising of Montreal. Mead Johnson Canada of Ottawa was the company seeking the injunction against Ross. It says that claiming Similac Advance offers the same benefits as breast milk is false and misleading. "Leading Canadian and U.S. experts in immunology and infant nutrition have reviewed the relevant available research and have concluded that there is no basis for these claims," Mead president Steve Johnson said in an earlier release.