Swiss NGO: Nestlé adds more sugar to baby food in Africa

Swiss NGO Public Eye accused Nestlé of a “double standard”, alleging that it sells infant cereal in Africa with more added sugar than in developed countries, according to a Reuters report on 18th November.

Public Eye, in collaboration with African civil society groups, collected almost 100 product samples from the range of instant infant cereal ‘Cerelac’ in more than 20 countries on the continent, and found that more than 90% of the products contained significant quantities of added sugar.

The analysis found that the average serving had nearly six grams of added sugar, which is roughly double of what was found in India, which comprises a large portion of the Cerelac consumer market.

A coalition of 19 African civil society organisations, including countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, and South Africa, with the International Babyfood Action Network (IBFAN), wrote an open letter to Nestlé CEO Philipp Navratil on November 17th, urging him to put an end to the practice.

Public Eye had previously conducted an investigation into the company’s baby food in 2024, showing the quantities of added sugar in infant cereal, which caused a scandal in India and a significant drop in Nestlé’s share price. 

After the first scandal, Nestlé introduced 14 variants of Cerelac which they claimed had no added sugar. Public Eye found that only two of these variants were launched in Africa, while the others found in African markets were imported from Europe and were not intended for the continent.

A Nestlé spokesperson responded to the investigation, saying, “It is misleading and scientifically inaccurate to refer to the sugars coming from the cereals and naturally present in fruits as refined sugars added to the products.”

“If we exclude sugars coming from ingredients like milk, cereals and fruit, our Cerelac infant cereals do not contain the levels of added refined sugars mentioned in the report,” he added.

In certain African countries, obesity has become a growing problem, alongside malnutrition in others. Public Eye claims that Nestlé markets its baby food products as being designed with the vitamins and minerals crucial for children’s’ healthy development, especially across Africa, where “millions of children are impacted by micronutrient deficiencies”.

Petronell Kruger from a South African civil society coalition said, “We see incredibly high rates of Nestlé marketing, and it’s often hidden as compassion. As a result, Cerelac is for most people a healthy and almost pharmaceutical product.”

Outraged by what the investigation found, she said that Nestlé must treat African babies like they would treat children in their own family. Nestlé claims that it will roll out its no-added sugar variants to 100% of the global market by the end of 2025.

Reuters, Public Eye, Maghrebi.org