World’s largest food company Nestle has acknowledged that more than 60 per cent of its mainstream food and drinks products do not meet a "recognised definition of health" and that "some of our categories and products will never be `healthy no matter how much we renovate", Financial Times reported. Only 37 per cent of Nestle’s food and beverages by revenues, excluding products such as pet food and specialised medical nutrition, achieve a rating above 3.5 under Australia’s health star rating system, a presentation circulated among the top executives this year, seen by the Financial Times said.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

What Nestle says? COMPANY's REACTION:

Statement on India initiatives by Nestlé India Spokesperson:-

“Nestlé India believes that nutrition is a fundamental need and the food industry has a vital role to play in enabling healthier lives. Driven by our purpose, we are constantly striving to increase the nutrient profile of our products, as well as innovate with new and nutritious offerings. “

Global statement from Nestlé S.A Spokesperson:-

“Nestlé is working on a company-wide project to update its pioneering nutrition and health strategy. We are looking at our entire portfolio across the different phases of people’s lives to ensure our products are helping meet their nutritional needs and supporting a balanced diet. Our efforts build on a strong foundation of work over decades to improve the nutritional footprint of our products. For example, we have reduced the sugars and sodium in our products significantly in the past two decades, about 14-15% in the past 7 years alone. In recent years, we have launched thousands of products for kids and families that meet external nutrition yardsticks. We have also distributed billions of micronutrient doses via our affordable and nutritious products. As we consider our future nutrition strategy, we are first focusing on assessing the part our food and beverage portfolio that can be measured against external nutrition profiling systems. Systems like the Health Star Rating and Nutri-Score are useful in this regard and enable consumers to make informed choices. However, they don’t capture everything. About half of our sales are not covered by these systems. That includes categories such as infant nutrition, specialized health products and pet food, which follow regulated nutrition standards.  We believe that a healthy diet means finding a balance between well-being and enjoyment. This includes having some space for indulgent foods, consumed in moderation. Our direction of travel has not changed and is clear: we will continue to make our portfolio tastier and healthier. "

See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:

This system scores food out of five stars and is used in research by international groups such as the Access to Nutrition Foundation.

How healthy is your Maggi, KitKat and Nescafe 

As per the report, Nestle, the maker of KitKat, Maggi and Nescafe, describes the 3.5 star threshold as a "recognised definition of health".

The report said within its overall food and drink portfolio, about 70 per cent of Nestle`s food products failed to meet that threshold, the presentation said, along with 96 per cent of beverages excluding pure coffee and 99 per cent of Nestle`s confectionery and ice cream portfolio.

Which Products Score High? 

Water and dairy products scored better, with 82 per cent of water and 60 per cent of dairy products meeting the threshold, this report said.