Nestlé has been criticised for adding sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in many poorer countries. The Swiss food giant controls 20% of the baby-food market, valued at nearly US$70 billion.
As the Public Eye investigation revealed, one example is Nestlé’s biscuit-flavoured cereals for babies aged six months and older: in Senegal and South Africa, they contain 6g of added sugar, while in Switzerland, where Nestlé is based, the same product has none. The World Health Organisation has called for a ban on added sugar in products for babies and young children under three years of age.Adding sugar makes the foods delicious and, some argue, addictive. The same goes for adding salt and fat to products.
Children eat relatively small amounts of food at this stage. To ensure healthy nutrition, the food they eat must be high in nutrients.Companies commonly influence public health through lobbying and party donations. This gives politicians and political parties an incentive to align decisions with commercial agendas.
In many cases, companies promise financial support in areas such as funding research. In 2023, a South African food security research centre attached to a university signed a memorandum of understanding with Nestlé signalling their intent to “forge a transformative partnership” to shape “the future of food and nutrition research and education” and transform “Africa’s food systems”.Most high-income countries have clear guidelines about baby foods.
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