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New Delhi: Global packaged foods giants such as PepsiCo, Unilever and Danone are selling products that are less healthy in “India and other low-income countries,” a new index report by global public non-profit foundation Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI) has alleged.
According to the ATNI global index report, these companies are selling products in low-income countries which have a significantly lower health star rating system than those sold in high-income countries. The report defined low and lower middle-income countries as Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania and Vietnam.
According to the report, PepsiCo, for example, which makes Lay’s chips and Tropicana juice, has introduced a target to increase sales of products meeting a nutri-score A/B, but this applies only to its snacks’ portfolio in the European Union.
HUL’s foods products portfolio includes Kwality Walls and Magnum ice cream and Knorr soups and ready-to-cook mixes, while Danone sells Protinex supplements and Aptamil infant formula in India.
The non-profit group ranked 30 such companies with significant gaps in their health scores between developed and low-income countries based on a star rating system developed in Australia and New Zealand. This is also the first time the ATNI index has split the scores into low and high-income countries. Prominent among these companies operating in India include PepsiCo, Danone and Unilever.
The index, detailed findings of which was made public on Friday, is the first such report by the organisation since 2021. According to the US-based ATNI index, going by the health star rating system, products are ranked on their health score out of 5 points, with 5 rated as the best score, and a score above 3.5 ranked as healthier. In low-income countries, the foods companies’ portfolios were tested and ranked with a 1.8 score in contrast to high-income countries where such products were ranked with a 2.3 score on average.
“We acknowledge that 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 …we will continue to invest in science to drive innovation and better understand and meet health and nutritional needs,” said Isabelle Esser, chief research & innovation, quality and food safety officer, Danone, in an email response. Emails sent to PepsiCo and HUL remained unanswered till press time, Friday.
“The rising use of weight loss medications has started to disrupt the packaged foods sector in high-income countries, creating pressure on food companies to look for new product lines and markets. Many multinationals are also increasingly deriving more revenue from low and middle-income countries than from high income countries,” the report stated.
In India, national food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has been escalating the declaration of nutritional information such as total sugars, salt, and saturated fat on packaged foods companies.
