Nestlé adds sugar to children’s milk sold in poorer countries, the report shows

Nestlé, the world’s largest consumer goods company, is adding sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in many poorer countries, contrary to international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases, a report has found.

Campaigners from Public Eye, a Swiss research organization, sent samples of the Swiss multinational’s baby food products sold in Asia, Africa and Latin America to a Belgian laboratory for testing.

The results and examination of the product packaging revealed added sugar in the form of sucrose or honey in samples of Nido, a follow-on brand of milk formula intended for use in infants one year of age and older, and Cerelac, a breakfast cereal intended for children aged 1 years and older. between six months and two years.

In Nestlé’s key European markets, including Britain, there is no added sugar in infant formulas. Although some cereals for older toddlers contain added sugar, products intended for babies between six months and one year of age do not contain sugar.

Public Eye agriculture and nutrition expert Laurent Gaberell said: “Nestlé must put an end to these dangerous double standards and stop adding sugar to all products for children under the age of three, anywhere in the world.”

Obesity is increasingly a problem low- and middle-income countries. According to the World Health Organization, the number of overweight children under the age of five in Africa has increased by almost 23% since 2000. More than 1 billion people worldwide live with obesity.

It is not always easy for consumers in any country to determine whether a product contains added sugars, and how much is present, based solely on the nutritional information printed on the package. Labels often list naturally occurring sugars in milk and fruit under the same heading as any added sugars.

WHO guidelines for the European region say that no added sugars or sweeteners should be allowed in food for children under three years of age. Although no specific guidelines have been established for other regions, researchers say in the European document remains just as relevant to other parts of the world.

The Great Britain recommends that children under the age of four avoid foods with added sugar due to risks such as weight gain and tooth decay. US Government Guidelines recommend avoiding foods and drinks with added sugars for children under two years of age.

In his report, written in collaboration with the International Baby Food Action Network, Public Eye said data from Euromonitor International, a market research company, revealed global retail sales of more than $1.2 billion (£960 million) for Cerelac. The highest figures are found in low- and middle-income countries, with 40% of sales in Brazil and India alone.

Dr. WHO medical officer Nigel Rollins said the findings “represent a double standard (…) that cannot be justified.”

Cookie-flavored cereal for babies six months and older contained 6 grams of added sugar per serving in Senegal and South Africa, researchers found. The same product sold in Switzerland does not have one.

Tests on Cerelac products sold in India showed an average of more than 2.7 grams of added sugar per serving.

In Brazil, where Cerelac is known as Mucilon, two of the eight products were found to contain no added sugar, but the other six contained almost 4 grams per serving. In Nigeria, one product tested contained up to 6.8 grams.

Meanwhile, tests on products from the Nido brand, which has global retail sales of more than $4.1 billion, revealed significant differences in sugar levels.

In the Philippines, products aimed at toddlers do not contain added sugars. However, in Indonesia, Nido’s baby food products, sold as Dancow, all contain approximately 2 grams of added sugar per 100 grams of product in the form of honey, or a 0.8 gram serving.

In Mexico, two of the three Nido products available to toddlers contained no added sugar, but the third contained 1.7 g per serving. Nido Kinder 1+ products sold in South Africa, Nigeria and Senegal all contain almost 1 gram per serving, the report said.

A Nestlé spokesperson said: “We believe in the nutritional quality of our early childhood products and prioritize the use of high-quality ingredients adapted to children’s growth and development.”

She said that within the “highly regulated” baby food category, Nestlé always complied with “local regulations or international standards, including labeling requirements and thresholds for the carbohydrate content that includes sugars” and declared the total number of sugars in its products, including those that come from honey . .

Variations in recipes depended on factors such as regulation and availability of local ingredients, she said.

The company has reduced the total amount of added sugars in its baby cereal portfolio by 11% globally over the past decade, she said, and has continued to reformulate products to further reduce them.

Sucrose and corn syrup were gradually removed from “growing up milk” for toddlers around the world, she added.