Nestle India shares fall over findings of high sugar level in products promoted in low, middle income nations

Nestle India shares fell over 3.5% on Thursday after a report indicated that Nestlé’s leading baby-food brands, promoted in low- and middle-income countries as healthy and key to supporting young children’s development, contained high levels of added sugar.

At the same time, such products are sold with no added sugar in Switzerland, where Nestlé is headquartered, according to the findings of a new investigation by Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN).

“For example, in Switzerland, Nestlé promotes its biscuit-flavoured cereals for babies aged from six months with the claim “no added sugar”, while in Senegal and South Africa, Cerelac cereals with the same flavour contain 6 grams of added sugar per serving,” the report claimed.

Similarly, in Germany, France and the UK, which are Nestlé’s main European markets, all formulas for young children aged 12-36 months sold by the company contain no added sugar, the report pointed out. And while some infant cereals for young children over one year old contain added sugar, cereals for babies aged six months do not, it said.

In India, where sales surpassed $250 million in 2022, all Cerelac baby cereals contain added sugar, on average nearly 3 grams per serving, the report pointed out.

Cerelac wheat-based cereals for six-month-old babies sold by Nestlé in Germany and the UK have no added sugar, while the same product contains over 5 grams per serving in Ethiopia and 6 grams in Thailand, the report pointed out.

Public Eye and the IBFAN examined 115 products sold in Nestlé’s main markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America and said no less than 108 of them (94%) contained added sugar. “On average, our analysis found almost 4 grams per serving, or about one sugar cube. The highest amount – 7.3 grams per serving – was detected in a product sold in the Philippines and targeted at six-month-old babies,” the report said.

A company spokesperson said, "Reduction of added sugars is a priority for Nestle India. Over the past 5 years, we have already reduced added sugars by up to 30 per cent, depending on the variant. " PTI reported.

Shares of Nestle lost nearly 5% on Thursday following the development. The stock has gained over 18% in the last one year.