Today’s fall in shares of Nestle, regarded as a long-term compounding machine, was the worst single-day drop in the last 3 years.
According to reports, the government has taken suo-motu cognisance of a report in today’s ToI which said Nestle adds sugar to infant milk sold in less affluent nations including India but not in its primary markets like Europe or the UK.
The revelation came to light when “Public Eye,” a Swiss investigative organization, and IBFAN (International Baby Food Action Network) dispatched samples of the company’s baby food items marketed in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to a Belgian laboratory for examination.
“A double standard exists here that cannot be rationalized,” Nigel Rollins, a scientist at WHO, said adding that the scenario where Nestle refrains from incorporating sugar into these commodities in Switzerland but readily embraces it in economically disadvantaged environments ‘poses challenges both in terms of public health & ethics’.
Also read | Nestle adds sugar to baby cereal sold in India but not in Europe & UK, study revealsAccording to the report, every Cerelac baby cereal variant contains supplementary sugar, averaging nearly 3 grams per portion, in India. At the same time, Cerelac wheat-based cereals tailored for six-month-old infants retailed by Nestle in Germany, France, and the UK are devoid of additional sugar. Conversely, the identical product harbors more than 5 grams per serving in Ethiopia and 6 grams in Thailand.As the controversy erupted with health experts calling out the “double-standards”, Nestle said it has reduced sugar up to 30% in the past 5 years depending on variant in infant cereals.
“We regularly review and reformulate portfolio to further reduce levels of added sugar,” a company spokesperson told ET Now.
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