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Source-This post on Nestle and its added sugar hypocrisy has been created based on the article “Nestlé’s baby food sold in Asian, African countries had added sugars: Why is sugar harmful?” published in “The Indian express” on 20 April 2024.
UPSC Syllabus-GS Paper-2– Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Context– A recent report published by Public Eye, a Swiss organization found that Nestlé’s baby products in Asia, Africa, and Latin America contain added sugars, while products sold in Europe do not. The report shed light on Nestlé’s hypocrisy and the deceptive marketing strategies.
What are the findings of the report on Nestle?
1) Double-Standards-The report criticized Nestlé for deploying varying nutritional standards in its products depending on the country, potentially contributing to sugar-related issues in lower-income countries. For ex-in developing countries, its products are sold with added sugars whereas in developed country like Switzerland products are sold with no added sugar.
2) Lack of transparency– The report highlighted that Nestlé’s product packaging didn’t clearly show the quantity of sugar content.
3) Risk for children- As per the report, Nestlé currently holds 20% of the baby food market, which is worth almost $70 billion. However, its products contain high sugar level in developing countries like Senegal and South Africa whereas in Switzerland its biscuit-flavored cereals for babies aged from six months contains no added sugar.
What is added sugar?
Free sugar or added sugar is added separately to a food item during preparation or processing. It can include natural sugars such as white sugar, brown sugar and honey, as well as other caloric sweeteners that are chemically manufactured.
Read more- On Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
Why is added sugar harmful?
1) Lack of balanced nutrition-Excessive consumption can lead to increased overall energy intake in a person’s overall diet. This could mean eating food that doesn’t provide enough balanced nutrition, which can lead to an unhealthy diet.
2) Non-communicable diseases– It can enhance the risk of contracting non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, obesity and heart-related ailments.
3) Addictive nature– It is unnecessary and highly addictive. When added to babies’ food, it enhances the addictiveness of children to get used to the sweet taste and start looking for more sugary foods. This starts a vicious cycle that increases the risk of nutrition-based disorders in adult life.
4) Violation of WHO advisories– It recommends avoiding added sugars until a child is 2 years old. A 2019 WHO study on baby foods found that many products contain unusually high levels of sugar.
Question for practice
Highlight the findings of the recently released report on Nestle? Why is consumption of added sugar harmful?
