Switzerland’s Nestlé isn’t exactly famous for having healthy and nutritious food, but now the world’s largest food company has acknowledged that more than 60% of the foods in the company’s portfolio are unhealthy. A leaked official document says that the company’s foods don’t meet a “recognised definition of health” and they even acknowledge that some of their products and categories will never be healthy no matter how they change. The “Financial Times” got the document after it circulated among top executives in the company. In fact, the document specifically said that only 37% of the company’s food and beverages achieved a rating above 3.5 in the health star rating system in Australia.
Australia’s system scores food up to five stars and is used by international groups for research. One of the groups is the Access to Nutrition Foundation. The group and Nestlé agree that a 3.5-star threshold is a recognized definition of health. In fact, in the entire Nestlé portfolio, about 70% of the products failed to meet that recognized threshold. In regards to the company’s beverages, more than 96% of their products failed to meet that threshold, and 99% of their ice cream and confectionery portfolio fell short. Believe it or not, only 82% of the company’s water is deemed healthy by these standards.
The presentation said that the company has made “significant improvements” to its products but the portfolio still falls short of pressure and demands from consumers, citing “external definitions of health.” The data did exclude things like pet food, coffee, baby formula, and the health science branch of the company, which makes foods for people who have special medical conditions. The data covers about half of the company’s total annual revenues.
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Around the world, people are working to combat obesity and encourage healthier eating. Meanwhile, the company’s CEO characterized Nestlé as a “nutrition, health and wellness company.” Now let’s have another glass of Nestlé Quick chocolate milk, eh? Here’s a news video about this story.