John,

“Baby killer” Nestlé’s up to its old tricks again.

Cerelac is the world’s number one baby cereal brand, raking in more than $1 billion for the Swiss food giant. “Happy on the outside, protected from the inside” is Nestlé’s slogan, but it’s a lie that’s been blown wide open by an investigation into the corporation’s cynical double standards.

In Switzerland, where Nestlé’s top bosses live, its infant cereals and formula brands are sold without added sugar – but in lower-income countries the corporation adds as much as one or two sugar cubes to every portion, defying World Health Organisation guidelines and feeding the obesity epidemic affecting low and middle income countries.

For Nestlé it’s all about money – and therein lies our opportunity. If the corporation can’t keep this sugar scandal from ruining its reputation, it’ll be forced to go sugar-free.

Tell Nestlé to stop adding sugar to baby foods – and then let’s tell the whole world!

Experts interviewed by Public Eye for their investigation “How Nestlé gets children hooked on sugar in lower-income countries” denounced the company’s double standard, particularly in view of the obesity epidemic affecting low and middle income countries.

Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network reviewed around 150 products sold by Nestlé in lower-income countries. Almost all the Cerelac infant cereals examined contain added sugar – nearly 4 grams per serving on average, equal to roughly a sugar cube. That’s a product made for 6-month-old babies! They also found that Nido, Nestlé’s baby formula milk brand, was laced with 5.3 grams of added sugar per serving in Panama and other Central American countries.

Nestlé even recommends publicly to avoid baby foods that contain added sugar! But it continues aggressively marketing added-sugar baby foods in lower-income countries anyway, because more sugar helps sell more products.

Fifty years after the “baby killers” infant formula scandal, Nestlé claims to have learned from the past. Clearly, this explosive sugar scandal proves that it hasn’t.

Tell Nestlé to stop adding sugar to baby foods!