Nestle ‍CEO Philipp Navratil . Photo: William Gammute/Nestle/Handout via Reuters

There has been a dramatic change in the tone and tenor of FSSAI, and the Indian food regulator has now become more pro-active and industry-centred with fast responses in the last decade, said Nestle India Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan.

Moreover, with the setting of more NABL-accredited laboratories by different leaders of FSSAI, the credibility of the testing process has also increased, said Narayanan, who led Nestle India after the Maggi crisis, which unfolded almost a decade back.

Also Read | Nestlé baby products sold in India, Africa, Latin America have higher sugar content than in Europe, tests show

In June 2015, FSSAI banned Maggi noodles for allegedly containing lead beyond permissible limits, forcing the company to withdraw the product from the market.

Industry observers opine that only after the Maggi crisis did the FSSAI come into the limelight across the country though it was established almost seven years ago, in September 2008, to lay down science-based standards for food articles and rules and regulations.

Nestle India relaunched Maggi in November 2015 after the ban was lifted and again got its pole position in the fast-growing instant noodles segment, where it still dominates with over 60% market share.

Nestle has sold over six billion servings of Maggi, making India the largest market for Maggi worldwide, the company disclosed in its latest annual report earlier this year.

When asked about the evolution of FSSAI as a regulator in the last decade after the Maggi crisis, Narayanan said it “has come a very long way”.

“I think a dramatic change has been in the tone and tenor with which the FSSAI deals with the industry and the speed of responses.”

Narayanan also lauded the efforts of the different leadership of FSSAI in the last ten years at different stages for the setting of NABL-accreditated laboratories across the country, which helped in terms of the credibility of the testing methodology process.

“I really see FSSAI now as far more industry-centred, I would not use industry-friendly because they do not have to be industry-friendly they have to be industry-centred in terms of recommendations,” said Narayanan in a media round table here.

Even earlier this year in April, FSSAI had collected pan-India samples of Nestle’s Cerelac baby cereals amid a global report, claiming the company was adding higher sugar content to the product.

These allegations were contested by Nestle, which earlier this week launched a new range of 14 variants of its 50-year-old infant food brand Cerelac in India.

“I must say that as an organisation, we have very cordial, respectful relations with them. We know their primacy and respect their primacy, and I do not think we are ever in a confrontational spirit with the FSSAI. They themselves have become a lot more pro-active and industry-centred,” said Narayanan.

FSSAI ban was stayed by the Bombay High Court over the petition filed by Nestle India.

Subsequently, FSSAI moved to the Supreme Court, which directed NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accredited CFTRI to clarify if the results of sample tests on Maggi Noodles show lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG) levels to be within the permissible limits.

The results were forwarded to the Supreme Court on April 11, 2016, stating that 29 tested samples showed lead levels within permissible limits.

Later, in April 2024, the apex consumer forum body NCDRC dismissed the petition filed by the government, seeking damages of ₹640 crore from Nestle over the Maggi issues.

Also Read | Centre asks FSSAI to initiate action against Nestle after report of sugar content in Cerelac

National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) had dismissed the two petitions filed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, seeking compensation of ₹284.55 crore and punitive damages of ₹355.41 crore.

Nestle India is a subsidiary of Swiss multinational Nestle SA that manufactures food, beverages, chocolates, and confectioneries. India is one of the fastest-growing markets of Nestle India.

New Delhi:

Two of the best-selling baby-food brands by Nestle in India contain high levels of added sugar, while such products are sugar-free in the United Kingdom, Germany Switzerland, and other developed nations, according to an investigation by Public Eye. The report said that Nestle, which is the world’s largest consumer goods company, adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products in several countries, a violation of international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases. Violations were found only in Asian, African, and Latin American countries.

Findings showed that in India, all 15 Cerelac baby products contain an average of nearly 3 grams of sugar per serving. The same product is being sold with no added sugar in Germany and the UK, while in Ethiopia and Thailand, it contains nearly 6 grams, the study said.  

The amount of added sugar is often not even disclosed in the nutritional information available on the packaging of these kinds of products.

“While Nestle prominently highlights the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients contained in its products using idealizing imagery, it’s not transparent when it comes to added sugar,” the report said.

Nestle sold over Rs 20,000-Crore worth of Cerelac products in India in 2022.

Experts say that adding sugar, which is highly addictive, to baby products is a dangerous and unnecessary practice.

“This is a big concern. Sugar should not be added to foods offered to babies and young children because it is unnecessary and highly addictive,” says Rodrigo Vianna, epidemiologist and Professor at the Department of Nutrition of the Federal University of Paraiba in Brazil.

“Children get used to the sweet taste and start looking for more sugary foods, starting a negative cycle that increases the risk of nutrition-based disorders in adult life. These include obesity and other chronic non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes or high blood pressure,” he added.

A Nestle India spokesperson though said that they comply with all local regulations and international standards, and have already reduced added sugars across its infant cereal range by up to 30% in the last five years.

“Over the past five years, Nestlé India has reduced added sugars by up to 30%, depending on the variant, in our infant cereals portfolio (milk cereal-based complementary food),” the spokesperson told LiveMint.

FMCG major Nestle India has “strong commitments” for local manufacturing with plans to invest ₹4,200 crore by 2025, including in its 10th plant in the country at Odisha, its Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan said on Friday.

Nestle India, the maker of popular Maggi noodles, KitKat chocolate and Nescafe, is investing to create capacity as it sees “fairly robust” demand in coming years in the Indian market.

“The investments done are fairly significant… till the first half of 2023, about ₹2,100 crore already been invested on capital investments,” said Mr. Narayanan in a media roundtable here.

These investments are for augmentation of manufacturing capacity, he said adding a third of that has gone into food space, another one-third on chocolate and confectionary and the rest on nutrition and others.

“Another ₹4,200 crore is being spent between 2023 and 2025. This includes around ₹900 crore for a new factory in Odisha,” he said.

Last year in September, Mark Schneider, the CEO of Nestle SA, global food & beverage conglomerate and its parent firm, announced to invest ₹5,000 crore by 2025.

Since its inception, Nestle India has invested around ₹7,000 crore in the last 60 years here, said Mr. Narayanan.

“This is the indication of where the promise for India stands and where the performance of the company is taking us,” he said adding new manufacturing practices and technology and digital infra are coming as a bundle.

A good part of this support is coming from the Swiss parent firm Nestle SA, which is providing technology, process and management capabilities for the new system.

Detailing about the investments, Mr. Narayanan said: “There will be probably two or three areas where it will go. One of course is for the new factory in Odisha, then there is further expansion of facilities further expansion of facilities in a coffee and beverages business that is also planned,” he said.

Nestle will have phases III & IV of expansion at the Sanand (Gujarat) plant where it will be setting up confectionery lines besides noodles.

“Then there is an expansion plan for our Moga (Punjab) and also in our other factories such as at Ponda (Goa) for the chocolate factory,” Mr. Narayanan said.

Over the Orissa factory, Mr. Narayanan said at this stage it would be a noodles factory but would also consider manufacturing chocolates and confectionery products there later stage.

“It’s a fairly large kind of unit which we will be building there,” he said adding “One of the targets for the company was to open something on the east side.” Over the timeline, Mr. Narayanan said typically it takes around two years to get one factory completed.

Nestle India is also working towards adding more female employees as per its commitment to diversity and inclusion. Now women represent one-fifth of its field force, and over 50% of its board strength, said Mr. Narayanan.

“As a company, we have close to 25% of women in our in our workforce again it’s something that I am very proud of,” he said adding at Sanand, its latest factory, more than 50% of the workforce are women.

Similarly, the coming plant at Orissa will also be a “citadel of diversity” with more than 50% women operators.

Nestle India presently operates nine factories employing roughly 6,000 people here. India is among the top ten global markets of Nestle SA, a Swiss multinational food and beverages conglomerate.