A NEW report has accused Nestlé of putting the health of babies at risk for profit by adding sugar to Cerelac products sold in Africa, including Nigeria.
The new investigation by a non-government organisation (NGO), Public Eye, accused the Swiss food giant of ‘double standards’ by not adhering to health standards applied to richer nations, in Africa.
“With the help of various civil society organizations in Africa, we collected nearly a hundred Cerelac products sold in 20 countries on the continent and had them analysed by Inovalys, a reference laboratory specialising in the agri-food sector. The result: more than 90% contain added sugar, in high quantities,” Public Eye, a Swiss group monitoring human rights violations by Swiss companies overseas, said.
The NGO disclosed that in Switzerland, where the company is headquartered, Nestlé’s main baby cereal brand comes with zero added sugar. And in key European markets such as Germany and the United Kingdom, where Nestlé also sells Cerelac baby cereals, all products targeted at babies from six month onwards have no added sugar either.
Public Eye said Nestlé is exploiting parents’ love and concerns around the world to transform food for small children into a highly lucrative business at a very high price to African society.
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“One and a half years after our first revelations, a new investigation by Public Eye into Cerelac infant cereals shows that the multinational company keeps force-feeding sugar to babies on the African continent.
“Last year, we highlighted Nestlé’s double standard over sugar in baby food, unleashing a wave of indignation across the world. In India, where this scandal caused a drop in its share price, Nestlé announced the introduction of 14 new Cerelac variants with no added sugar. Excellent news for millions of babies.
“But is this desire to act selective? What system does the youngest clientele of Nestlé face in other regions of the world today?” the organisation asked.
The group said an open letter by 20 civil society organisations in Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia and Zimbabwe is calling on the food giant to immediately stop adding sugar to its baby foods.
The group noted Cerelac infant cereals are the most popular on the African continent. Annual sales exceed $250 million and Nestlé has a market share of over 50 percent, according to exclusive data obtained from Euromonitor.
The group further revealed that on average, each analysed serving of Cerelac contains nearly six grams of added sugar, around one and half sugar cubes. “This is 50 percent more than the average found in our first investigation, which focused mainly on products sold in Asia and Latin America,” Public Eye said, adding that it is twice the amount detected in India, the main market for Cerelac worldwide.
“The highest quantity detected in Africa – 7.5 grams per serving or almost two sugar cubes – was found in a Cerelac product sold in Kenya and intended for six-month-old babies. Overall, Cerelac infant cereals containing at least seven grams of added sugar per serving were listed in seven African countries.”
The group stated that with the exception of two variants recently launched in South Africa, all the products with no added sugar that it could find were not intended by Nestlé for the African market but imported from Europe by other actors.
“These practices speak to a long history of colonialism, exploitation and racism,” said Lori Lake, from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where Public Eye met mothers who use Cerelac in poor rural areas. “It feels like Nestlé is knowingly fueling the fire of obesity and diet-related diseases in Africa.”
Nigeria is biggest market for Cerelac
Public Eye said with annual sales of over $50 million, Nigeria is the largest market for Cerelac on the African continent. It quoted Executive Director of the Nigerian Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF), Ms Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, as saying that the lack of transparency by the Swiss foods giant undermined consumer rights and public health.
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“Parents must be empowered with clear, honest information to make safe choices for their children,” Ms Okafor said.
Nestlé responds
In a response posted on its website, Nestlé said: “Our infant cereal products sold in Africa do not contain high levels of added sugars. Our solutions are specifically adapted to the needs of children, grounded in science, and fortified to combat malnutrition. If we exclude sugars coming from ingredients like milk, cereals and fruit, our Cerelac infant cereals do not contain the levels of added refined sugars mentioned in the report.”
It added, “When it comes to added sugars in our infant cereals sold everywhere, our levels are well below the ones set by the international body governing the early childhood food standards, the Codex Alimentarius (a Food Standards Commission established by the WHO and FAO, and aligned with local regulations. We have been improving our portfolio for years and offer options of infant cereals with and without added sugars positioned in the same price range.”
