Tesco has faced calls to axe a Danone-funded midwives in-store trial, as critics branded the initiative “unethical”.

The UK’s largest retailer had initially launched an in-store initiative at a store in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, featuring midwives with branded informers, offering shoppers advice on feeding infants.

However, the scheme has sparked ethical concerns, according to The BMJ, which likened it to the 1970s ‘milk nurses’ scandal —a scandal in which formula industry salespeople posed as nurses to promote branded formula to parents under the guise of advice.

It is understood one midwife hired by food and drink manufacturer Danone, which has a portfolio that includes popular formula brands Aptamil and Cow & Gate, quit the role, claiming it was “unethical” and of breaking the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes – a set of rules to stop businesses from advertising formula in ways that discourage breastfeeding, as well as insuring parents get impartial information and are not pressurised by marketing.

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Currently in the UK, infant formula is not allowed to be marketed in any form, including TV campaigns and advertising promotions.

A spokesperson for Danone insisted the initiative was designed to provide “impartial, nutritional expertise”, and the branded uniform was “not mandatory”.

They told The BMJ: “Our participation in Tesco’s health services trial gives parents easy and convenient access to high quality information about nutrition. The first 1,000 days of life are the most significant in a child’s development, so having access to information and advice is essential in supporting parents and their little ones during this important time.”

A spokesperson for Tesco said: “[It] was designed to offer additional support to parents and carers through free and impartial advice, as part of a wider concept offering a range of health and wellbeing services.

“The pilot concludes at the end of January, and we will reflect on the views raised by customers and stakeholders when deciding how we support customers in the future.”