Nestlé pumping kids full of sugar

Nestlé was once associated with all that is nutritious and healthy. The brand values might have been described as high-quality, utterly dependable, inherently good-for-you products. No longer in my opinion.

Apart from their corporate dramas about things like Melamine in baby formula [read here], palm oil for KitKat being sourced from the decimated former jungle land of Indonesia, which attracted the attention of Greenpeace [see video here], they've produced in my opinion, utter junk food in the form of their Nestlé Milo Cereal. 

Look at this 'nutritional' information taken off the pack [below]. 

Being the co-rearer of a little man with ADHD, I'm deeply conscious that this sugar content could send a rocket to the moon. How does a supposedly responsible, self-proclaimed 'ethical' company like Nestlé opportunistically leverage a line extension out of Milo in the pursuit of profit, without giving a damn about the negative health effects on the minds and bodies of children? They even promote this garbage in schools. That's how Siphe came home and asked about it. There was someone from Nestlé promoting the Milo drink at his school.

The front of the cereal pack is very misleading. It punts 'wholegrain' in large letters. The pic of people playing soccer implies health and  fitness - not obesity or hyperactive sugar-rush induced behaviour. It contains 34.1 grams of sugar per 100 grams of product. That's more than one third of the product which is pure sugar. Take an even closer, more critical look at the 'nutrition' list and you'll see it has less than 5 grams of fibre per 100 grams of product. Not a good ambassador for a 'wholegrain' cereal. This 'food' should be classed as toxic to children and taken off supermarket shelves.

I shall be taking up the (in my opinion) misrepresentation of this 'nutritious' cereal with the advertising standards authority as a matter of principle.

Nestlé seems to have lost its way. It now appears to be profits before people or ethics. Very sad. Please share this with your friends who have children at home - and tell them not to buy or serve this cocktail of garbage. Look at the Nestlé logo below: 'Good Food - Good Life'. I don't think so.

 

Comments

[debbie]

Nestle is one of the most despicable multinational corporations ever to emerge. I've been taking the nestle boycott seriously for a few months. A worldwide boycott call has been in place since the 1970s. As i understand its "stronghold" is european (esp brit) universities, and this continues today on many campuses. British students a handful of years ago tried to ignite the boycott at wits university, but i'm not sure how that is going.

General reasons for boycott are:

HEALTH- what goes into their products, as this blog article points out, is questioned. It is not just about the melamine issue, but rather the essential unhealthiness of nestle-produced foods in general.

ETHICS- as pointed out in your post clive, including the word "wholegrain" there is cleverly and intentionally misleading. But this is how nestle operates, intentionally misleading people about the health of their products (ie advertising in india that their 2 minute noodles will "build bones"). The are guilty of what can only be called "murderous marketing". In africa nestle promote their baby-milk formula partly by supplying false information about breast-feeding. Last year they were 'caught' sourcing from one of grace mugabe's farms (ie, propping up dictators). I could go on and on, but i won't bore you. This company knows no ethics!

Anyway, I am getting angry now because the people who are behind nestle are the lowest of the low.

Here is a list of Nestle products not to buy:
kit-kats
smarties
aero
bar-one
tex
peppermint crisp
rolo
milky bar

nesquick
milo brand
nescafe coffee

And here is a link to a nestle boycott page- http://www.babymilkaction.org/pages/boycott.html

[debbie]

For the hardcore, more nestle-owned brands to
NOT choose at the supermarket:

Crosse&Blackwell
Maggi

Garnier
Maybelline
Redken
The Body Shop

Friskies (pet food)

Boycotts are easy and perfect for south africans- you literally have to do nothing ;)

[jacki janse van rensburg]

oh dear! my son only eats that in the mornings. he is a stubborn one, if i don't have what he wants to eat, he doesn't eat. so i was happy to find something that solved the fight/standoff.

*sigh*

[Mike]

Really interesting and also disturbing. The power of marketing abused by a large brand. It will be interesting to follow the response of ASA

[ergo baby carrier]

At least the kids love to drink Milo

[Marie Botha]

Which baby formula does not have palm oil or soy oil in it?? They both increase the risk of cholesterol and cancer, I cant believe they are in ALL baby formulas in SA. Is there a brand that cares enough not to have these oils in their ingredients??