Nestlé must take problematic products off shop shelves and stop adding harmful ingredients to its infant formula products!
Based on the findings in our research report Deceit, Rule-bending and Other Malpractices (
http://bit.ly/2G17Swl), Globalization Monitor is appealing to all of you to participate in our petition to demand Nestlé to stop using ingredients that are harmful to infant health in their formula products, and immediately remove problematic products from shop shelves!
Heavyweight Swiss formula milk manufacturer Nestlé met with local NGO Globalization Monitor and the Britain-based Changing Markets Foundation in March 2018 and pledged to:
1.
Stop adding vanilla flavourings to its stage two formula products (i.e. products designed for infants aged 6 to 12 months) and remove all such products that contain vanilla flavouring from shop shelves. [i], [ii]
2.
Remove the nutritional advice on the NAN PRO product series that states they contain “no added sucrose, vanilla flavour or flavourings for babies’ healthy growth”.
3.
Stop adding sucrose to its stage two formula products and remove all such products that contain sucrose from shop shelves. [iii]
Atrociously, Nestlé has not followed through on ANY of the commitments it made a year ago!
📍 Ingredients harmful to infant health
Sucrose and vanilla flavouring both put an unnecessary burden on infants’ metabolic system and may undermine their health. Therefore, when Globalization Monitor and Changing Markets Foundation discovered Nestlé’s use of these additives during our research for the Busting the myth of science-based formula report (
https://goo.gl/vgsvFR), we demanded to meet with Nestlé and urged the company to rectify the issue.
📍 Nestlé ignored Globalization Monitor’s demands
Our Deceit, Rule-bending and Other Malpractices research found that Nestlé’s Wyeth S-26 Ultima SMA – sold in Hong Kong – still contains vanillin, while Wyeth illuma and Wyeth S-26 Gold – both sold in mainland China – contains ethyl vanillin and vanillin respectively.
The batch of Wyeth S-26 Ultima SMA which was found to contain vanillin in our newest research is not the same batch as the one investigated by Globalization Monitor and Changing Markets Foundation more than a year ago. This is evident from the product’s new packaging design, and alarmingly means that Nestlé has put upgrading its packaging before removing an ingredient that could burden infants’ metabolism and contribute to the development of a preference for sweet tastes in later life. We are very disappointed to see where Nestlé’s priorities are.
Furthermore, Nestlé continues to market its NAN PRO formula product line as containing “no added sucrose, vanilla flavour or flavourings”, ostensibly “for babies’ healthy growth”. It is very misleading for carers when, on one hand, Nestlé sells them products that contain sucrose and various flavourings but, on the other hand, informs them that formula products without such ingredients are healthier for infants.
In its correspondence to Globalization Monitor, Nestlé claimed that “the change of label has not been completed yet because of the labels that were already in the value chain or printed. This process can take time before the products with the old labels are fully phased out of the system.” Nestlé’s excuse demonstrates that it cares more about its profits than the needs of infants and carers and the right of consumers to be correctly informed.
📍 Nestlé admits fault
Nestlé’s Global Deputy Head of Public Affairs, Ms Pindelwa Mda, got in touch with Globalization Monitor via email on 8th April, conceding that the phasing out of sucrose in approximately 3% of their formula recipes for infants from 6 to 12 months is still incomplete. The reason Ms Mda gave was that Nestlé is still waiting for the registration of new recipes, and that “once the registration process with authorities has been finalised, we will phase in new recipes that contain no sucrose and hope that this process will be completed in the next few months.”
If a product is found to be problematic and potentially harmful to infant and young children health, the responsible thing to do is to immediately withdraw it from the market. Instead, Nestlé is insisting on waiting for the registration of a new recipe before removing the problematic products, which again shows how Nestlé puts its profits before fulfilling its social responsibility as a baby food manufacturer. Nestlé’s business strategy also goes against its publicly-professed purpose of “enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future”.
Globalization Monitor hereby urges Nestlé to take its promises seriously: Nestlé must immediately withdraw problematic products from sale, stop adding sucrose, vanilla flavouring and other harmful additives into future batches of infant formula products, and provide the concerned public with a concrete and precise timeline for these changes to be implemented!
📕 Globalization Monitor’s research – Deceit, Rule-bending and Other Malpractices, full report in English:
http://bit.ly/2G17Swl-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] The European Food Safety Authority advises against the addition of unnecessary substances which ‘put a burden on the infant’s metabolism’ because they have to be excreted.
EFSA NDA Panel (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies) (2014). Scientific opinion on the essential composition of infant and follow-on formulae.
[ii] Nutritional experts advise against the consumption of flavourings in infancy, as this might contribute to the development of a preference for sweet tastes in later life.
First Steps Nutrition Trust (2016) Sugar in fortified milks marketed for children over 1 year.
[iii] The European Food Safety Authority specifically advises against the addition of sucrose on the grounds that “it can lead to severe symptoms, including poor feeding, vomiting and overall failure to thrive in some infants’ and ‘it may, because of their greater sweetness, increase the preference for sweet tastes in infants.”
EFSA NDA Panel (2014). Scientific opinion on the essential composition of infant and follow-on formulae. EFSA Journal, 12(7): 3760–3866.
