Why was a Nestlé boycott launched? (2024)

FAQs

Why was a Nestlé boycott launched? ›

In the 1970s, declining rates of breastfeeding led a number of organisations to raise concerns about the marketing practices of breast milk substitute manufacturers - including Nestlé - in developing countries.

A nationwide boycott of the Nestle Corporation has been called, because of their aggressive and deceptive promotion and marketing of infant formula in the developing world. Third World mothers are being encouraged to abandon breast feeding in favor of buying such products as Nestle's Lactogen.

The campaign compelled the World Health Organization to advance a global code of marketing of breast-milk substitutes: a means of saving millions of infants' lives. All of the member countries of the World Health Assembly voted to adopt the code… except the United States.

The latest controversy has centred around Nestle, a well known brand in India – an investigation recently found that all Nestle baby cereals sold in India contained almost 3g of added sugar – but the same cereals sold in European markets had no added sugar.

Whether they know about Nestle's issues with child labor or their unethical water bottling practices, Nestle has a reputation, and it's not a good one. Because of these issues, tens of thousands throughout the years have agreed to a complete boycott on all Nestle products.

“The baby food industry stands accused of promoting their products in communities which cannot use them properly; of using advertising, sales girls dressed up in nurses uniforms, give away samples and free gift gimmicks that persuade mothers to give up breastfeeding,” the 1974 report states, echoing Public Eye's ...

Strong grassroots momentum prevailed, making it hard for Nestle to discredit the campaign. The campaign became so internationally widespread that ten countries participated in the boycott. Finally, on January 24, 1984, Nestle announced that it agreed to abide by the International Code in the Third World.

Advocacy groups and charities have accused Nestlé of unethical methods of promoting infant formula over breast milk to poor mothers in developing countries.

Nestlé's overall impact score

The company provides approximately 127.6 billion servings of affordable nutrition with micronutrient fortification annually, making a significant contribution to the global food supply.

Based on calculations from these linear averages, our estimate of the number of infant deaths between 1960 and 2015 resulting from the introduction of Nestlé formula among mothers in LMICs without clean water sources is 10,870,000 total infant deaths with 95% confidence interval [5,825,000, 15,907,000].

What was the significance of boycott? ›

boycott, collective and organized ostracism applied in labour, economic, political, or social relations to protest practices that are regarded as unfair. The boycott was popularized by Charles Stewart Parnell during the Irish land agitation of 1880 to protest high rents and land evictions.

In 2021, Nestlé was named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former child slaves from Mali who alleged that the company aided and abetted their enslavement on cocoa plantations in Ivory Coast.

In the United States, Nestle faced accusations of discouraging breastfeeding to promote its baby formula as a healthier alternative despite the lack of proven evidence, as per a Hindustan Times report. This sparked a boycott of Nestle products in the United States in 1977, which later spread to Europe.

They aren't eating it for breakfast and they think it takes too much time for breakfast. On top of that, Topper points out that millennials are more concerned than other groups with getting sufficient protein and fiber in the morning, and they aren't likely to see cereal satisfying that need.

Advocacy groups and charities have accused Nestlé of unethical methods of promoting infant formula over breast milk to poor mothers in developing countries.

Forced labour, modern slavery and child labour

Multiple reports have documented the widespread use of child labour in cocoa production, as well as slavery and child trafficking, throughout West African plantations, on which Nestlé and other major chocolate companies rely.

Chemicals like BPA (and their 'safe' alternatives) leach from the plastic into the coffee when exposed to hot water. BPA accumulates in the body and is linked to a range of health problems, including cancer, hormone issues, and brain/neurological issues.

The first Nestlé boycott

In July 1977, the newly formed Infant Formula Action Coalition ( INFACT ) began a consumer boycott against Nestlé, demanding an end to infant formula promotion.