In a startling revelation, Nestle, the world's largest consumer goods and manufacturer of baby formula, has come under scrutiny for allegedly adding sugar to baby foods sold in India, as well as other Asian and African countries.

A report from Public Eye, a Swiss investigative organization, has uncovered that Nestle added sugar in the form of sucrose or honey in samples of its baby food products, including Nido, a follow-up milk formula for infants aged one and above, and Cerelac, a cereal aimed at children aged between six months and two years.

In India, where sales of Nestle's Cerelac surpassed $250 million in 2022, all Cerelac baby cereals were found to contain added sugar, averaging nearly 3 grams per serving.

Similarly, in South Africa, the main market in Africa, all Cerelac baby cereals contained four grams or more of added sugar per serving.

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In Brazil, Nestle's second-largest market with sales of around $150 million in 2022, three-quarters of Cerelac baby cereals contained added sugar, averaging 3 grams per serving.

Even in Nigeria, one product tested had up to 6.8 grams of added sugar.

Meanwhile, the same product is being sold with no added sugar in Germany and the UK.

However, a Nestle India Ltd. spokesperson told NDTV Profit that the company has reduced the total amount of added sugars in its infant cereals portfolio by 30 per cent over the past five years and it continues to "review" and "reformulate" products to reduce them further.

"We believe in the nutritional quality of our products for early childhood and prioritise using high-quality ingredients," it said in a statement.

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