Is This Company Getting Turning Babies Around The World Into Sugar Addicts?

When you think of the Nestle brand, your first thought might be candy bars, Nesquik chocolate milk mix, or some other sugar-laden treat. But for parents around the world, Nestle is also the maker of formula and other baby food products they rely on to keep their little ones healthy.

As for whether these products live up to the promise of starting children out on the right nutritional foot, that might depend on geography.

The results are in

An in-depth investigation by the International Baby Food Action Network revealed evidence that Nestle is marketing very different types of products to customers in low-income nations than those who live in more prosperous regions of the world.

Nestle’s home country, Switzerland, for example, offers a range of baby food without added sugar while seemingly similar products in developing countries contain a troubling amount of the addictive sweet stuff.

The company utilizes social media influencers and celebrities to promote its baby foods in countries like Guatemala, but the bombshell report found that its claims are often misleading at best. Instead of paving the way for a “strong, healthy child” as musician Billy Saavedra asserted in an Instagram post touting Nestle’s Nido 1+ formula brand, such products in low- to middle-income nations are packed with sugar.

The bottom line

Since Nestle controls nearly one-fourth of the global baby food market, it has a unique opportunity to get children hooked on sugar at an early age. And as its critics say, it’s doing exactly that while increasing the risk for its youngest customers to experience serious health problems later in life.

World Health Organization scientist Nigel Rollins weighed in, arguing that the report “is problematic both from a public health and ethical perspective,” adding: “There is a double standard here that can’t be justified.”

Chris Agee April 18th, 2024

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