Nestlé adds sugar to infant milk sold in poorer countries, report finds
Nestlé adds sugar to infant milk sold in poorer countries, report finds
Swiss food firm’s infant formula and cereal sold in global south ignore WHO anti-obesity guidelines for Europe, says Public Eye
Fuck Nestle.
108"Yeah so we tried to make this powdered garbage sweeter so children could stomach it. Sure it has nutritional value but it tastes like orphan slop. Can we improve that?"
"No."
Fuck Nestlé but come on guys.
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It is not always easy for consumers in any country to tell whether a product contains added sugar, and how much is present, based on nutritional information printed on packaging alone.
That seems like the problem that actually needs solving.
56Agreed but our governments have nearly completely checked out of monitoring food less the more immediate consequence type situations. Good luck getting real olive oil for example.
14Not sure which countries you are talking about but Australia's nutritional information seems pretty robust, every food product must list its ingredients, and in order of highest amount to lowest (sometimes with % for things like fruit in syrup, juices, etc).
Also they have a nutrition table where it shows each main factor (vitamins/minerals, sugars, salts, fats, carbohydrates, calories, etc.) And the amount per 'serving' (serving size noted) and per 100g of the product. So you can compare the exact same figures product to product and know which is better for you.
There are often other bits of information on the packs, (some of which are optional i believe) such as %of ingredients grown in australia, if its packed in australia, country of origin, 'health start rating' (0-5 star scale which shows a quick comparison of how healthy a TYPE of food is. Keep in mind a 4.5 star bottle of soft drink isnt healthy, it is simply more healthy than other soft drinks in its category, ie: a better choice)
5
Victim blaming when Nestle could simply do... What's better for the human body?
14Yes, true. But have you considered the shareholders?
14Relying on for profit corporations to do what is best for the human body is a fool’s errand.
Strong consumer labelling laws and regulation is the primary way to combat it. Encouraging consumers to actually read the packaging is also required.
2
Can I sue Nestle and Johnson for milk and baby powder respectively? I am an Indian citizen, so I don't know if I am entitled to the compensation for damages caused - my mother used their shitty products, and apparently, it killed babies in developing countries.
41Unfortunately, Nestle and J&J have spent billions on lawyers and consultants, so even if you could sue it would go nowhere.
31Maybe a class action?
5
But why? It is bad for babies OK, but what is the upside for Nestlé? Is it addiction?
35One of Nestle's main evil plans in the Low Income Countries is to aggressively tell mothers that formula is better than breastfeeding, have doctors suggest it, or even give free formula until the mothers' breastmilk dries up.
Humans evolved to crave sugar which is scarce in nature.
Babies will naturally prefer milk with higher sweetness i.e Nestle Cerelac. This will help convince the mothers to breastfeed less, buy more formula, and/or let their milk dry up.
Edit: here's UNICEF on these evil marketing practices in Bangladesh.
86Add to that.
Nestle has a huge bonus long term from sugar. It is hugely addictive. Haveing children grow up with an early addiction can only benifit them long term. Given how much sugar is a part of other non bany products they sell.
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Sugar is roughly as addictive as cocaine.
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/experts-is-sugar-addictive-drug
So yeah, addiction is probably the end game.
25Jesus Christ what misleading bullshit. Should we classify sugar as a schedule 3 drug then? Treat it like cocaine? No thats fucking stupid because it's not. It can be addictive, like literally anything else. A baby is not going to get chemically dependant on sugar.
Another example of having the right information but the wrong conclusion.
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Fuck Nestle!
33Nestle bad
19no. pedophiles are bad. tasting human shit is bad. the feeling when the love of your life walks out of the room for what you know is the last time is bad.
we need a new word for nestle. this company is like Belgian Congo or maybe even "Israeli" levels of fucked up.
3
Does anyone know why Bangladesh had zero added sugar?
Could it be that Bangladesh has stricter regulations?
Edit: it seems I was wrong. I thought when I read this yesterday it said Bangladesh had no sugar, but looking it up today, that's no longer the case.
14@alvvayson where does it say there's none in Bangladesh?
There's even more sugar in Nestle formula in Bangladesh than there is in India.
2You are correct.
I could swear that when I read the primary source yesterday, it said Bangladesh had zero sugar.
But going to the link, that's no longer the case.
Either I was wrong or they corrected it.
Primary source: https://stories.publiceye.ch/nestle-babies/
2
Obesity is increasingly a problem in low- and middle-income countries.
Isn't that always going to be the case, regardless of ingredient adjustment? It feels like people who have had very little food will tend towards over-compensating during times of glut - perhaps not so much the generation directly affected, but the care they give to next generations.
As an example vaguely related but less extreme; I was born in 1970 in England to a lower middle-class family. My parents were wartime and post-war babies who had experienced rationing and as a result, I have very strong recollections of being made to "clear your plate" before I could leave the table. (Ironically given this topic, the "there are starving children in Africa who would like that" line was given quite often)
Wasting food was the absolute highest sin I could commit and that's stayed with me to this day.
13DEATH TO NESTLÉ
11This is the best summary I could come up with:
Nestlé, the world’s largest consumer goods company, adds 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.
Laurent Gaberell, Public Eye’s agriculture and nutrition expert, said: “Nestlé must put an end to these dangerous double standards and stop adding sugar in all products for children under three years old, in every part of the world.”
It is not always easy for consumers in any country to tell whether a product contains added sugar, and how much is present, based on nutritional information printed on packaging alone.
The UK recommends that children under four avoid food with added sugars because of risks including weight gain and tooth decay.
Biscuit-flavoured cereals for babies aged six months and older contained 6g of added sugar for every serving in Senegal and South Africa, researchers found.
A Nestlé spokesperson said: “We believe in the nutritional quality of our products for early childhood and prioritise using high-quality ingredients adapted to the growth and development of children.”
The original article contains 774 words, the summary contains 180 words. Saved 77%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
10Nestle is still evil; more news at 11.
3Corporation ignores guidelines in pursuit of profit. News at 11.
Corporations will not ever self-regulate. If the "global south" can't even govern their food suppliers at the inadequate and shitty level the US does, then what else can be said? This is a problem that is directly within those governments ability to solve, but they still won't even do that.
Unsolvable problems with the Nestle Corporation - They Exist and their executives weren't guillotined in the 50's.
Solvable problem with the Nestle Corporation - They are legally allowed to sell products within the sovereign countries of the global south while complying with all local laws and regulations.
If only something could be done....
-1No, don't try to pass the buck. Wealthy nations are the ones responsible for what their own citizens get up to. Corporations are made up of people and should be regulated by their host nations.
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Low Income Countries usually lack the resources to test imported products properly. This for eg is why all the poison cough syrup deaths globally.
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They also lack the resources to finance enforcement of their laws.
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They are also bullied by the World Trade Organization or threatened with lack of trade in necessities if they try to go against large international corporations with lobbying power.
7Don't noble savage this shit. Most of those countries have functional governments that manage to regulate a lot of stuff, the article isn't about lack of enforcement. It's about lack of regulation period. While the WTO does help enforce the neo-liberal order, they aren't the ones that are doing this. Nestle-LLC incorporated in South Africa is using "too much" sugar in their formula. This is a problem that is wholly within South Africa's ability to solve.
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If a corporation willingly abuses every loophole in laws or lack of laws even though it is able to know what would be more beneficial for their customers or humanity or at least to know what the law originally intended, then it's just plain evil shit. It's still people who work at companies and make immoral decisions. They have the power to decide.
5Yes, and since modern capitalist companies are transnational, what should be done? If you are blaming nestle you are correct, but Nestle's actions within South Africa are outside the scope of America's laws.
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