Nestlé, the world’s largest consumer goods company, adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in poorer countries including in Africa and Asia, a report has found. This is contrary to international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases. In the report, Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organization, together with the International Baby Food Action Network reveals double standards in the sale of its baby products, Nido and Cerelac. Nido and Cerelac are Nestle’s most selling products. They are widely sold across Africa, including Rwanda. Campaigners from Public Eye 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, 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. The UK recommends that children under four avoid food with added sugars because of risks including weight gain and tooth decay. US government guidelines recommend avoiding foods and drinks with added sugars for those younger than two. ALSO READ: Rwanda FDA bans Cerelac products over ‘non-complete requirements’ In its report, Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network said data from Euromonitor International, a market-research company, revealed global retail sales of above $1 billion for Cerelac. The highest figures are in low- and middle-income countries, with 40 per cent of sales just in Brazil and India. Biscuit-flavored cereals for babies aged six months and older contained 6g of added sugar for every serving in Senegal and South Africa, researchers found. The same product sold in Switzerland has none. Tests on Cerelac products sold in India showed, on average, more than 2.7g of added sugar for every serving. In Brazil, where Cerelac is known as Mucilon, two out of eight products were found to have no added sugar but the other six contained nearly 4g for each serving. In Nigeria, one product tested had up to 6.8g. Meanwhile, tests on products from the Nido brand, which has worldwide retail sales of more than $1bn, revealed significant variation in sugar levels. In the Philippines, products aimed at toddlers contain no added sugar. However, in Indonesia, Nido baby-food products, sold as Dancow, all contained about 2g of added sugar per 100g of product in the form of honey, or 0.8g a serving. In Mexico, two of the three Nido products available for toddlers contained no added sugar, but the third contained 1.7g per serving. Nido Kinder 1+ products sold in South-Africa, Nigeria and Senegal all contained nearly 1g per serving, the report said. “There is a double standard here that can’t be justified,” said Nigel Rollins, scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO), when presented with our findings. For Rollins, the fact that Nestlé does not add sugar to these products in Switzerland but is quite happy to do it in lower resources settings “is problematic both from a public health and ethical perspective.” Rollins says that manufacturers may try to get children accustomed to a certain level of sugar at a very early age, so that they prefer products high in sugar. “This is totally inappropriate,” he believes. ALSO READ: Nakumatt Rwanda suspends harmful products Variations in recipes depended on factors including regulation and availability of local ingredients, she said. The company has reduced the total amount of added sugars in its infant cereals portfolio by 11 per cent worldwide over the past decade, she said, and continued to reformulate products to reduce them further. Sucrose and glucose syrup were being phased out of “growing-up milks” aimed at toddlers worldwide, she added. Rwanda Efforts to get comments from the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) was futile. Asked whether they might be aware whether there are Nestle local products that don’t meet international standards, Rwanda FDA said it wasn’t aware but said further investigation may need to be conducted. Last year, Rwanda FDA banned imports and sales of seven Cerelac products that ended up on local supermarket shelves despite having “non-complete label requirements.” Certain packages of Cerelac products lacked standard requirements at the time, especially the manufacturer’s name and address, Rwanda FDA’s market surveillance findings showed.
