“Nestlé sweetens baby formula sold in developing nations.”

The biggest consumer goods corporation in the world, Nestlé, adds honey and sugar to cereal and newborn milk products that are offered in many developing nations. International standards intended to avoid obesity and chronic illnesses are at odds with this, according to a research cited by The Guardian.

According to the research, tests conducted on Cerelac products supplied in India revealed that each serving on average had over 2.7g of added sugar.

Campaigners from the Swiss investigative group Public Eye submitted samples of the infant food items supplied by the global company in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to a laboratory in Belgium for analysis.

According to The Guardian, the results and product packaging analysis showed that samples of Nido, a follow-up milk formula brand meant for infants one year old and up, and Cerelac, a cereal targeted at kids between the ages of six months and two years, had added sugar in the form of sucrose or honey.

Little child formulas in Nestlé’s primary European markets—including the UK—do not include added sugar. Cereals for older toddlers can include added sugar, whereas goods for infants aged six months to a year old don’t.

“Nestlé must put an end to these dangerous double standards and stop adding sugar in all products for children under three years old, in every part of the world,” said Laurent Gaberell, agricultural and nutrition specialist for Public Eye.

Public Eye reported in a study co-authored with the International Baby Food Action Network that Cerelac had worldwide retail sales exceeding $1.2 billion (£960 million) based on data from market research firm Euromonitor International. With 40% of sales coming from only Brazil and India, low- and middle-income nations have the biggest percentages.

WHO medical official Dr. Nigel Rollins was quoted in The Guardian as stating that the results showed “a double standard [… that can’t be justified.”

Nonetheless, the newspaper cited a Nestlé representative as saying: “We believe in the nutritional quality of our products for early childhood and prioritise using high-quality ingredients adapted to children’s growth and development.”

She claimed that Nestlé always complied “with local regulations or international standards, including labelling requirements and thresholds on carbohydrate content that encompasses sugars” and declared the total amount of sugars in all of its products, including those derived from honey, in the “highly regulated” category of baby food.

According to her, local ingredient availability and regulations influenced recipe variations.