Food firm calls for level playing field to cut sugar
SOUTH Derbyshire firm Nestlé is appealing for a “level playing field” when it comes to regulations on sugar as obesity continues to be a major problem, it says.
The company, which makes some of best known chocolate bars and has a factory in Hatton employing 900 people that makes coffee, has said it is committed to reducing sugar in its products by five per cent by 2020 to help people live healthier lives, but now wants others to follow suit.
Nestlé makes favourites such as Kit Kat, Aero, Yorkie and Milkybar. Household names which Nestle make when it comes to coffee includes Nescafe and Dolce Gusto.
The firm’s call comes after bosses reduced the amount of table sugar in its products by 32 per cent with a focus on children’s foods between 2000 and 2013.
In 2014, bosses said they reduced sugar content by a further 10 per cent and by the end of 2016 they reduced it again in all the products that did not meet the company’s criteria.
Bosses said that this nutritional criteria is based on scientific and public health recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other top international and national authorities.
However, a Nestlé spokesman said others should follow the firm’s lead and look at the amount of sugar in their own produce in a bit to make it a “level playing field”.
They said: “Obesity is a major societal problem that everybody has a role to play in addressing.
“We have been voluntarily improving our products for many years but an unintended consequence of voluntarism is that it creates an unlevel playing field as not everybody is committed to playing their part.
“We have consistently said that there can be a role for regulation in tackling obesity alongside voluntary measures where it creates a level playing field and incentives investment in research and development to improve products.
“It is no less important that other policies do not have the unintended consequence of acting as a disincentive to this investment.” food Nestle has a coffee factory Hatton