Nestlé's baby formulas are exposing American and Canadian babies to unhealthy and under-studied GMOs (genetically modified organisms).
GMOs have never been proven safe for human consumption; and the inadequate research that has been done on GMOs does not look at long term effects in humans, let alone infants. Babies are particularly vulnerable when it comes to eating GMOs.
Nestlé is the world's #1 food company in terms of sales. Researching Nestlé's products and its business practices is disheartening, to say the least. I am sure you will be angry too. Here is a list of Nestle’s crimes, including some associated with infant formula:
- Nestlé is a member of the Grocery Manufacuturers Association, who constantly lobbies for loose restrictions on GMO foods and donates absurd amounts of money against GMO labeling initiatives.
- What do they have to hide? A million dollars’ worth? Nestlé USA donated $1,052,743 to the anti-GMO labeling campaign in Washington last year.
- In 2012, Business Insider published an article called “Every Parent Should Know the Scandalous History of Infant Formula”. The article explains the tumultuous history of Nestlé's baby formula and why it is a predatory company that undermines breastfeeding. Nestlé has gone into developing poor countries and intensely promoted infant formula. This has led to many deaths because of the lack of clean water sources to prepare formula safely. Also, many families cannot afford to purchase formula after the free samples stop, and by that time, many babies die from malnutrition. Boycotts of Nestlé’s baby formula have been going on since the early 1970s.
- In November 2002, Nestlé got caught up in a labeling scandal. Police ordered Nestlé Colombia to get rid of 200 tons of imported powdered milk. “The milk had come from Uruguay under the brand name Conaprole, but the sacks had been repackaged with labels stating they had come from a local Nestlé factory, and stamped with false production dates of 20th September and 6th October 2002. The real production dates were between August 2001 and February 2002. A month later another 120 tons with similarly false country of origin and production dates were discovered, pointing to systematic fraud. The discoveries caused a stir, with senators insisting the Attorney General conduct a full inquiry leading to prosecutions.” Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo charged Nestlé with using sub-standard, contaminated milk, “a serious attack on the health of our people, especially the children.”
- In January 2013, a video came out of former Nestlé CEO, Peter Brabeck, saying that water is not a human right and it should be privatized.
- In 2012, Mayor Bloomberg of New York City, who is seen as a “health advocate”, launched the Latch On, NYC initiative which wants hospitals to stop promoting formulas.
- Back in 2001, Nestlé was accused of buying cocoa from the Ivory Coast and Ghana, which may have been produced using child slaves. BBC produced a report saying that thousands of children in Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo were being purchased and shipped to the Ivory Coast, to be sold as slaves to cocoa farms.
- Sadly, Nestlé has no fair trade policy to make sure that the producers of its cocoa and coffee are paid a living wage. “As one of the four corporate giants dominating the coffee-roasting industry, along with Sara Lee, Kraft and Procter & Gamble, it is thus partially responsible for the plight of millions of coffee growers in the global south, who are being paid unfairly for their produce and face economic ruin due to collapsing world prices.”
- Nestlé has been accused of promoting unhealthy food, especially marketing unfairly to kids; a recent report by the UK Consumers Association claims that 7 out of the 15 breakfast cereals with the highest levels of sugar, fat, and salt were Nestlé products.
- Nestlé, which makes Nestea, conducts—and pays others to conduct—painful and deadly tea tests on animals.
- According to Forbes, for many years, Nestlé used palm oil from companies that were ruining Indonesian rainforests, threatening the livelihoods of local people and pushing orangutans towards extinction.
For even more information on the history of criticisms of Nestlé, click this link.
Join GMO Inside in standing up to Nestlé. Our babies deserve better than GMOs.
