Unsafe Spices & Sugary Baby Food, Exposing How Popular Brands are Putting Profits Over Children’s Health in India
In April, 2024, three big companies in India were accused of selling products that not only harm children’s health but also cause cancer in people. These companies are MDH, Everest and Nestle. MDH and Everst’s spices contain ethylene oxide, a very harmful pesticide that can cause cancer in our bodies. While Nestle’s food products, which are for children, contain added sugar, which can harm small children.
Dr Ambrish Mittal, senior doctor at Max healthcare said that such companies are the reason for the problem of capacity in children in India. This is a serious issue because these three brands are not small brands that are bought by a few thousand people. Their sales were more than Rs.200 crores in the last few financial years.
The most shocking thing is that Nestle’s products sold in the US and Europe were deemed normal. But when the same product is sold in developing countries like India, it contains added sugar. For Nestle, the health and well-being of children in India is not as important as it is for children in European countries.
So one question that you might be wondering about is what was the Indian government doing?
Because whatever report came, whether it was about Nestle or MDH and Everest spices, it came from abroad. Nestle’s report came from Switzerland while Everest and MDH spices, it came from Hong Kong.
What is strange is that after Nestle News broke out, a week later, another news came out Nestle’s profit in India increased by 21% in the first quarter. Now, you might be wondering how serious this accusation is? Do you have to stop using the spices and select? Why didn’t the Indian government detect this earlier?
And why do such companies take advantage of our country?
MDH & Everest’s Cancer Causing Carcinogen
Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety
On 5 April 2024, the Hong Kong centre for food safety released a press release in the press release, they said, they took samples of spices from three retail outlets in Tsim Sha Tsui under the food surveillance program.
They found a pesticide in the samples, ethylene oxide, which is called group one carcinogen by the international agency for research on cancer. Group one carcinogen means that we have evidence that it causes cancer. The age agency said that ethyl oxide can cause lymphoid cancer and breast cancer in women.
So what were the spices that contained ethylene oxide? They were MDH’s madras Curry Masala, Sambar masala, Curry Powder Masala, and Everest’s fish curry masala. The HongKong Centre for Food Safety said that no one should use the spices and no business can sell them.
Singapore Food Agency
The Singapore food agency released their reports after 13 days. They said that they found ethylene oxide in Everest’s fish curry masala which should not be used in food.
They also stated in their press release that when there is a little bit of ethylene oxide in food, it doesn’t cause immediate problems, but it can cause cancer in the long run. That’s why we shouldn’t use ethylene oxide. At room temperature, ethylene oxide is a gas, which is used to make other chemicals, like antifreeze, which is also called engine coolant.
It is added to cars so that they don’t freeze in cold temperatures. In small quantities, this car is used for pesticides and sterilisation. Sterilisation means killing organisms. That’s why ethylene oxide is used to stabilise medical equipment and spices so that they don’t cause diseases like salmonella or E.coli.
Singapore’s food regulation states that ethyl oxide can be used to stabilize spices, but only to a limit. In Europe, this is completely banned. why?
Because agencies have stated, when ethylene oxide is used in small quantities, it doesn’t cause immediate problems, but it can cause cancer in the long run.
After this news, Everest food products issued a statement where they said that there is no need to worry. All of their products are safe.
Rajiv Shah, the director of the company, said, only one product out of 60 has been tested. So there is no need to worry. The Indian spices board, an organisation under the ministry of commerce, asked MDH and Everest masala to tell them what quality checks they do on the spices.
The director of the Spices Board of India, A.B. Rema Shree said that they are looking into the matter. In addition, the food, safety and standards authority of India also stated, they are doing quality checks on MDH and Everest masala. This is a serious issue because millions of people in our country use these spices daily to cook their food.
Nestle’s Double Standards
This was just one piece of news. Another news shook the entire country when it was revealed how Nestle is selling baby food products in our country. Cerelac and Nido are Nestle‘s biggest baby food brands in developing countries like India.
Cerelac is an instant cereal brand that Nestle sells. The serial is promoted for children between 6 and 24 months of age. It’s said that along with mothers milk, you can also give this cereal to children. This brand has many varieties whether it’s rice, wheat or oats. This product is popular because you just have to add water to it, and the baby’s food is ready to eat, no matter where you are.
Nido is Nestle’s second most popular product which is basically powdered milk. You just have to add water to it, and the baby’s milk is ready to drink. The Website says that Cerelac and Nido are made for the health of the baby. The formulas of these products contain vitamins, minerals, and other micronutrients that help the baby grow, strengthen their immune system, and develop their brain.
Nestle claims that Ceralac is healthy for small babies. Is that really true?
Two and found the answer to this question. One is the public eye in Switzerland that investigates many Swiss companies and the other is the international baby food action network, an international NGO that works on the health of children. On 17 April 20 24, these NGO released a detailed report on Nestlé where they tested 115 baby food products.
And what did they find? Out of 115, 108 products meaning 94% of the products contained added sugar. Added sugar doesn’t mean the sugar that’s naturally present in the food. It’s the sugar that Nestle intentionally added and look at the hypocrisy, what is written on Nestle’s website?
The guideline states that mothers should avoid sugar. It also states that sugar should not be added to baby’s food.
But look at Nestle’s hypocrisy, because what they are doing in India, they are not doing in the UK, Europe and the US. When there is no added sugar in Cerelac sold in Germany and the UK, in India it’s 2.2 g, whereas in South Africa and Thailand, it’s 4 and 6 grams.
Nigel Rollins, a WHO scientist said that Nestle’s double standards can’t be justified. And these double standards are not found in just one product but in many Nestle’s products. For example, Nestle’s biscuit cereal which is given to children above the age of six has no added sugar in the product from Switzerland, but when the same product is sold in South Africa, it has 6 g of sugar.
Adding sugar is just one thing in many places. Nestle labels were wrong, for example, in the Philippines a cereal is sold. When you look at the ingredients, there is no mention of sugar, but in the investigation it was found out that this product has 7.3 g of sugar. So Nestle’s advertisement says that our product has vitamins, minerals, and many other nutrients. But the added sugar that Nestle is deliberately adding, it’s not even mentioned on their label.
Consequences of adding sugar
So the major consequence of adding sugar in dietary supplements affects children’s health the most. Doctors have clearly stated that sugar can be dangerous for small children.
Case study
In 2017, a 14 year old boy came to Max Hospital in a wheelchair. The doctor was shocked to see him. He said that the boy was very obese. He couldn’t even stand up and open his eyes because his face was fluffy. He weighed 237 kg and his BMI was 92. WHO recommends that according to his age his BMI should ideally be 25. In many news articles, he was called the world’s heaviest teen.
Now the link between this case, and Nestle’s cerelac case is Very strong. Because the seeds of a density are shown in childhood, doctors say that kids get addicted to sugar and eat it very quickly. Parents like it and they start using these brands. Many studies have shown that addiction to eat sugar is similar to any drug addiction. Because when we eat sugar, a hormone called dopamine is released in our body, it is also called the pleasure hormone.
It means that we feel good after eating sugar. Dopamine is the same chemical that is released in our body after taking drugs and cigarettes. Sugar addiction works in the same field. In fact, children are more susceptible to this addiction. The more you eat sugar, the more your tolerance increases, so for the same pleasure, you have to eat more sugar.
This is a bad cycle that many kids fall into. Foods that have a lot of added sugar have calories, but no nutrients. So the kids’ stomach gets full, but they don’t get any nutrients. These calories are also called empty calories. So, when you give added sugar to a small child, they get addicted to it and their tolerance increases.
This means that for the same dopamine effect, they have to eat more sugar, which leads to obesity. In 2015, the national family health survey of the Indian government showed that 2.1% percent of children under the age of five are overweight. In four years, this number has increased to 3.4%. Dr. Arjan De Wagt, who is the chief of nutrition at UNICEF in India, said that childhood obesity is a major problem in India.
And because this behaviour starts in childhood, that’s why fat children remain fat, even when they grow up. This is a strange thing about our country. On one hand, 36% of children under the age of five are stunned. They don’t get proper food. On the other hand, there are millions of children who are overweight. This has serious consequences.
Around 30- 40 years ago, no one would have heard that children have type 2 diabetes. But now, type 2 diabetes is a very common thing among children. For example, Sumaiyya Shaikh, who was nine years old when she was diagnosed with type two diabetes. In an interview, she said, I am a foodie. I am very frustrated and depressed because I have to eat vegetables. At that age, when children should play outside, they go to the hospital to get their type 2 diabetes checked.
Doctor Makar, who is an obesity specialist and does a lot of research on diabetes, said that obesity is a major reason Why children in our country are suffering from type 2 diabetes. That’s why doctors say that children shouldn’t be given added sugar.
Dr Tanushri Mukherjee, a paediatrician, says that small children should either get nutrition from mother’s milk or from infant formula. Because these things have nutrition and not added sugar. Mothers milk is naturally sweet, which gives the child good energy. If they are given sugar outside the limit, the child may have health problems.
WHO has only clearly stated that one year old child should not be given added sugar. The same was stated by the 2020 dietary guidelines advisory committee which included many scientists. This is why Doctors say that children should not be given honey.
Doctor Shrivastava, who works at the Shri Balaji action medical Institute, said that honey should not be given to 1 year old children because their digestive system is not developed enough to stop a bacteria that can cause infant botulism. So, if such serious allegations have been made against Nestle, they must have been shaken by them.
When Nestle was asked why they have a double standard with India, compared to other countries, Nestle did not respond. In a report, they stated that they have reduced added sugar by 11% in children’s food and are trying to do more. Nestle’s India team said that they have reduced added sugar by 30% in the last five years. But they did not clarify why they are adding added sugar to children’s diet, they said, they are following all the regulations in India.? Yes, they did say this.
Loopholes & Negligent Regulations of Food, Safety And Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
This is the problem of the food, safety and standards authority of India. Take a look at the regulations. The regulations stated that Sucrose or fructose should not be added, but if it is added as a carbohydrate it should be up to the 20% limit, then it can be added. Sucrose is the sugar that is found in our homes. And fructose is the sugar that is found naturally in fruits and honey. So, the regulations stated that their addition is prohibited. But if they’re added in the limit, then it’s okay.
If you look at the ingredient list of Cerelac, then, out of 100g of cerelac, 8.9g is sucrose or sugar, which is 13% of the total carbohydrate, so it’s less than 20%. So can we say that Cerelac is following the Indian regulations? Then, why is there a ruckus all over the world? It’s because many doctors say that no added sugar should be added to baby products.
Dr. Ambrish Mithal said the same thing. But the Food Safety Authority of India, which is a government agency under the Ministry of Health, says that added sugar is allowed. Many companies take advantage of such regulations. For example, Bournvita has been selling its product in the name of a health drink for many years. This is an ad from 2011. “When you prepare your child for success, nobody can stop them”. “ Bournvita-this is where the preparation starts”
And last year, the Food Safety Authority clarified that there is no official label for your health drink. This happened when food influencer, foodpharmer made many videos about it. So, for years, bournvita has been selling sugar in the name of Health drink. And the Food Safety Authority has done nothing about it until a video was made on it.
In 2017, the CAG criticised the Food Safety Authority and this is not new. In 2017, the CAG wrote a detailed report where it said that the Food Safety Authority had renewed the licences of many products despite the fact that they were found unsafe. And many times, they issued new licences without proper documentation.
The Food Minister of India, Piyush Goyal says that the Food Safety Authority is doing a good job. Because the Agency is not working properly, people have taken up its duties. For example, in a recent study by Dr.Philliis, he analysed 36 protein powders and found that 70% of the protein powders were mislabeled, 14% had toxins, and 8% had pesticide residue.
So, the test that the Food Safety Authority should be conducting, people are doing it themselves to find out where the pesticide residues are. This situation has led many companies to treat our country like a dustbin.
Beyond Nestle, A Global Problem of Junk Food Targeting Developing Countries
Nestle is not a single company. For example, this is a document called Global Junk Food, Which was released five years ago. It’s a comparison of fast food products that are sold in other countries as well as in India. This documentary’s findings are a disgrace to our country. McDonald’s McChicken Sandwich sold in India has 2.5 times more sugar than a Drench Sandwich.
Fillet-O-Fish has 2 times more saturated fat. The same is true for McNuggets. If we talk about KFC,the French fries sold in India have 10 times more salt than French KFC fries in developed countries. Yes, 10 times more salt! If we talk about hot wings, they have three times more fat in Indian products.
Revant Hematsingka, a popular influencer known as Foodpharmer, also talked about Lays and other chocolate brands. It’s not difficult to Fool consumers. We all know that behind a food packet, there is a nutrition label. But how many of us can read this label?
‘But honestly, I don’t know what trans fats are.’ This is what a 21 year old Hydrabadi boy said. And this is the case for most people. A survey was conducted in 2023, which showed that more than half of people don’t know what unhealthy fats are. We don’t know if unsaturated fats found in almonds or fish are considered healthy or that saturated fats found in butter or palm oil are considered unhealthy.
And companies also try to confuse us. The Nido, a Nestle brand, which we discussed earlier, says that there’s no added sucrose or sugar in their product. But there’s a twist. They don’t add sugar, but add honey and fruit sugar. This is called fructose and this is the problem. There are many names for added sugar. Not just added sugar, but palm oil has many names on the nutrition label.
So when confusion is being created on purpose, what can an ordinary person do? And one thing that we forget is that many people earn lakhs of rupees a month just to do one thing. To convince us that we should buy their unhealthy food products. How do you like an ASMR sound? Do you like it? Research has shown that whenever we hear a crunching sound, our brain receives a signal that this is what we want, and it will be tasty. This is why many companies try to engineer the sound of their food.
And in their ads, they use human psychology so that we buy their products. This is why their packaging is also bright. Because research has shown that the brighter the packaging, the higher the chances that the consumer will buy the package.
Now let’s talk about solutions
If we talk about food, one thing that our food authority has to do is to control the labels so that these companies don’t fool us with their labels. Be at the excuse of added sugar on unhealthy fats, for this, they have to create standardised labels.
Once these labels are created, they have to control our ads. Complan and Bournvita have been fooling our country for many years that their drinks are healthy. In this, not only the companies and the government, but also people like Hrithik Roshan have to take responsibility. On one hand, he has six pack abs and on the other hand, he is promoting products like Bournvita, Complan and horlicks.” No matter how much we prevent the ads, the final solution will only come when the consumer is educated and informed about what healthy fats are, what unhealthy fats are, and how to eat food.
One thing that’s important for people to understand is to avoid packaged foods as much as possible. Eat whole foods,i.e., fruits and vegetables from home. Another thing people should keep in mind is protein intake.most Indians don’t eat enough protein. If you are a non-vegetarian, the solution is easy. If you are a vegetarian, you can consider tofu, Paneer or whey protein.
Just remember to consult a nutritionist before making any major changes in your diet because everyone’s situation is different. And remember, this is crucial for you and your family‘s health.
