Truth is the Daughter of Time: The Real Story of the Nestle Case 1 LISA H. NEWTON T he story of the 1970s Infant Formula controversy—involving Bristol Myers, Abbott Laboratories, and several other com- panies, but always coming back to Nestle S.A.—has been written many times; 2 the account that follows in this article aims to correct as well as update the case that we remember. The first and largest part of the paper is an extended chronology of the con- troversy as it affected Nestle, starting in 1966 (or a century earlier) and coasting to a temporary halt in 1998—temporary, for the story goes on. Events which were not part of the case as recorded in the literature will be included (why were they not known earlier?) The second part will comment briefly on some of the oddities of the story as it has emerged, and suggest some directions for future investiga- tion and action. I. THE SKELETON OF THE CASE: WHAT HAPPENED, AND WHEN I. Development, Use, and Production of Infant Formula: 1867– 1998. As it is with all mammals, human mothers have always suckled their infants; and as with all mammals, sometimes the milk fails, or is insufficient. What shall we feed the infant when that happens? Historically, mothers have tried primarily milk from other © 1999 Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK. Business and Society Review 104:4 367–395 Lisa H. Newton is the Director of the Program in Applied Ethics at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut.