Nestle, don't treat the problem after you have been part of creating it: iLIVE

It is interesting, if not ironic, that the research quoted in the article "SA just loves junk food: study" is done by the very same company that introduces junk food to babies and children from before the moment they are born.

And what is worse, they do this under the guise of promoting healthy nutrition. It starts with supplemental milk drinks for pregnant mothers (supposedly necessary to produce healthy breastmilk), then artificial baby milk, baby cereals, breakfast cereals, all loaded with sugar, yet branded as being healthy.

One box of popular cereal contains 33.1% sugar, that is ONE THIRD of the "whole grain, fuel for school, source of fiber" cereal we are feeding our children. Yet Nestle is trying to make us believe it is healthy food so we will buy it.

One of the outcomes of the study is "People also perceive healthy food to be more expensive and want to see the results of healthy eating immediately". Are we surprised? A box of said cereal retails for about R33. A much healthier alternative, plain oats, retails for about a third of the price and will last much longer.

Another conclusion "what is also of concern is the fact that 63% of parents admit that they have problems convincing their children to eat healthy". I'm not surprised at all, as they are bombarded with health claims for non-healthy foods, and children are introduced to sugar-loaded highly processed foods from the moment they open their mouths to feed.

Children are introduced to these foods by roadshows at schools, even if their parents choose not to feed it to them. To be fair, Nestle is not the only company guilty of this. Nutella recently lost a class action lawsuit in the USA for unfounded health claims.

Purity puts 27% sugar in baby cereals. And all of these foods are marketed as "healthy" foods. When are we going to wake up to the fact that these companies are not interested in our health at all?

 The only thing they are interested in is how much profit they can make. Nestle, please be honest and don't treat the problem after you have been part of creating it.