Nestle’s internal report says 60% of its products unhealthy for consumption

The world’s largest consumer food and beverages company Nestle has been facing criticism after an internal presentation revealed that a majority of its mainstream food and beverages portfolio is unhealthy.

The Financial Times, which accessed the report, said that it has seen a presentation circulated among top executives this year which said that 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.

“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,” the media report further stated.

The crisis involving Maggi Noodles in India was so bad that several case studies have been made on it. It nearly threatened the existence of Nestle India as Maggi sales contributed to over 25 per cent revenues of the Swiss company’s India unit.

It was in 2014 when food safety regulators from the Barabanki district of Uttar Pradesh reported that samples of Maggi Noodles had high levels of monosodium glutamate (MSG) apart from high lead content above the permissible level.