The Nestle Sugar Scandal: Nido Is Not Available in Nigeria - NAFDAC

 The world's largest consumer goods firm, Nestle, produces Nido, a follow-up milk formula brand meant for use with infants aged one and upwards. According to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nido is not available in Nigeria.

According to reports that went viral on social media, Nestle adds sugar and honey to baby formula and cereal items sold in many developing nations, which goes against global recommendations meant to avoid obesity and chronic illnesses.

According to the study, samples of infant food products sold in Latin America, Asia, and Africa were analyzed, and the findings of the analysis and inspection of the product packaging showed that samples of Nido, a follow-up milk formula, had additional sugar in the form of sucrose or honey.

brand meant for usage with one-year-olds and up, as well as Cerelac, a cereal for kids between the ages of six months and two years.

NAFDAC responded by stating that Nido is not in circulation in Nigeria, is not known to the agency, and is not registered in Nigeria.

The organization revealed in a press release provided to LEADERSHIP yesterday that the assortment of Nestle Cerelac baby cereals supplied in Nigeria are appropriately registered with NAFDAC in compliance with the Nigerian Industrial Standard for Foods for Infants and Young Children – Processed Cereal Based foods (NIS 256:2010), the Codex Standard for Processed Cereal-based Foods for Infants and Young Children (CXS 74-1981, which was adopted in 1981, revised in 2006, amended in 2017, 2019, and 2023), and the relevant NAFDAC regulations for adherence to the standards for quality, safety, and labeling.

The regulations indicated that processed cereal-based foods meant for infants to be fed as supplemental food starting at six months of age are included in their scope.

According to NAFDAC, if products made of cereals are prepared to be consumed with milk or other suitable nutritious liquids, they can include sucrose, fructose, glucose, glucose syrup, or honey as long as the amount of added carbohydrates from these sources doesn't exceed the specified levels of 1.8 g/100 kJ (7.5 g/100 kcal); in particular, the maximum amount of added fructose cannot exceed 0.9 g/100 kJ (3.75 g/100 kcal).

"It's critical to It should be noted that the following national and international food standards for processed cereal-based foods for infants and young children allow for the addition of sucrose, fructose, glucose, glucose syrup, or honey to products made from cereals that are or must be prepared for consumption with milk or other suitable nutritious liquids: the maximum amount of added fructose, for example, cannot exceed 0.9g/100kJ (3.75g/100kcal); the amount of added carbohydrates from these sources cannot exceed the stated levels of 1.8 g/100 kJ (7.5 g/100 kcal).

When high-protein cereals are combined with water or another suitable protein-free liquid for ingestion, carbohydrates (such as sucrose, fructose, glucose, glucose syrup, or honey) can be added as long as the amount of additional The maximum amount of additional fructose from these sources is limited to 0.6g/100kJ (2.5g/100kcal), and the total amount of carbs from these sources cannot exceed 1.2 g/100 kJ (5g/100 kcal).

It's crucial to remember that carbs are composed of sugar building blocks and can be categorized based on the number of sugar units that make up each molecule. Monosaccharides, or single-unit sugars, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Disaccharides are double-unit sugars, the most well-known of which are lactose (milk sugar) and sucrose (table sugar), according to the explanation.