INDIA – A recent report by the Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) has highlighted significant health concerns regarding the products sold by major food and beverage companies, including Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Unilever, in low-income countries.
The report reveals that these companies’ products have notably lower health scores in low-income markets compared to those in high-income countries, sparking worries about potential health impacts on the populations in these regions.
ATNI’s findings, which assessed 30 global companies, showed that products sold in countries with lower incomes generally receive lower ratings on the health star rating system used in Australia and New Zealand.
This system ranks food and beverages on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the healthiest option. While products sold in high-income nations average a rating of 2.3, those in low-income countries average only 1.8.
ATNI’s analysis focused on low- and lower-middle-income countries such as India, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Vietnam, Pakistan, and the Philippines, where access to healthier food options is often limited.
PepsiCo’s portfolio, for example, includes products like Lay’s chips and Tropicana juice, but the company’s commitment to offering healthier options, such as products meeting Nutri-Score A/B standards, currently applies only to its snacks portfolio in the European Union.
Similarly, while Nestlé and Unilever offer healthier product lines in high-income countries, these choices are often not available in low-income markets.
ATNI’s Research Director, Mark Wijne, expressed concerns over the disparity, noting that while companies are expanding in low-income countries, they are not consistently selling their healthier products in these markets.
“It’s a wake-up call for governments in these countries to be vigilant,” Wijne told Reuters, urging local authorities to pay closer attention to the nutritional quality of imported and manufactured food products.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over a billion people worldwide are now living with obesity, with 70 percent of this population in low- and middle-income countries.
The report underscores how fast foods and snacks, such as potato chips and cola beverages, are contributing to the global obesity epidemic.
Isabelle Esser, Chief Research and Innovation Officer at Danone, emphasized the company’s commitment to addressing nutritional needs, stating, “We acknowledge there is always more to do, both at a business and industry level. We are committed to building a health-focused portfolio and improving the nutritional quality of our products.”
The ATNI report marks the first time the organization has separated its health assessment by income level, providing a clear comparison of product health ratings across different economic regions.
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