Initiate action against Nestle: Nidhi Khare, Consumer Affairs secretary
Ministry of Consumer Affairs has written to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) asking it to take action against Nestle India after Swiss investigative organisation Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network said in a report that the packaged foods maker adds 2.2 gm sugar per serving to its baby foods brand Cerelac in India.
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Existing World Health Organisation guidelines ban added sugars in baby food products.
«In light of this report FSSAI is requested to initiate appropriate action against practices of Nestle Company regarding the composition of Nestle Cerelac baby cereals solid in India, » Nidhi Khare, secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs said to chief executive of FSSAI in the letter.
The India unit of Swiss multinational Nestle SA, in an email to ET, had earlier said it has reduced sugar by 30% in Cerelac over the past five years.
The company, which also sells the Maggi noodles, Kitkat chocolates and Nescafe coffee, said in a statement that its products were manufactured in the country “in full compliance” with standards set under CODEX (a commission established by WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization) and local specifications pertaining to the requirements of nutrients including added sugars.
Cerelac has been found to contain an average of nearly 3 gm of sugar per serving in India, according to the report. The study also found added sugars in many other low-and-middle income countries as
