801
submitted 7 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Swiss food firm’s infant formula and cereal sold in global south ignore WHO anti-obesity guidelines for Europe, says Public Eye

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.

Campaigners from Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organisation, 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 product packaging, revealed added sugar in the form of sucrose or honey in samples of Nido, a follow-up milk formula brand intended for use for infants aged one and above, and Cerelac, a cereal aimed at children aged between six months and two years.

In Nestlé’s main European markets, including the UK, there is no added sugar in formulas for young children. While some cereals aimed at older toddlers contain added sugar, there is none in products targeted at babies between six months and one year.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

I agree, but kids will be addicted to sugar pretty quickly regardless. Maybe that's the reason, but it seems like an awfully big expense when all they have to do is sell chocolate and the kids come running.

[-] RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de 47 points 7 months ago

Yeah, but this is milk. For small babies that don't eat solid food. This is basically training them to crave sugar as early as possible.

[-] AmidFuror@fedia.io 8 points 7 months ago

It's in a follow-up milk for kids over 1 and in a cereal.

[-] cley_faye@lemmy.world 22 points 7 months ago

Kids don't get addicted to sugar much if there isn't much sugar intake occasion. I'm sure they checked the market and found that they could sell more sugar-based product later with this initial push.

[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago

In poorer countries, they might not buy non-essentials like sweets and chocolate as much as in the West. This ensures the sugar addiction starts early!

this post was submitted on 17 Apr 2024
801 points (100.0% liked)

World News

39161 readers
1638 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS