Based on science? Revisiting Nestlé’s infant milk products and claims

The report finds that while Nestlé removed sucrose from products for babies aged 0-12 months, it failed to remove vanilla flavourings in China and Hong Kong. It further argues that Nestlé continues to breach the WHO Marketing Code by comparing its products to breastmilk and employs 'premiumisation' pricing strategies that lack scientific justification, resulting in significant price disparities between products and markets.

• Nestlé has partially fulfilled its 2018 commitments: sucrose was removed from products for babies aged 0-12 months, but vanilla flavourings remain in products sold in China and Hong Kong.
• Nestlé continues to provide contradictory nutritional advice in the Hong Kong and China markets, promoting some products as healthy because they lack vanilla and sucrose while selling other products that contain vanillin.
• The company is accused of breaching the WHO Marketing Code by using marketing claims that suggest its products are equivalent or close to breastmilk, such as the ILLUMA brand's use of the trademark 'Human Affinity Formula'.
• Nestlé employs a 'premiumisation' strategy, creating a wide range of products with additional ingredients that lack proven nutritional benefits to justify higher prices.
• There is a significant price disparity for Nestlé products within the Hong Kong market and between Hong Kong and the UK. The most expensive formula in Hong Kong is 96.7% more expensive than the cheapest Nestlé formula in that same market.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2019). Based on science? Revisiting Nestlé’s infant milk products and claims. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Based_on_science_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Based on science? Revisiting Nestlé’s infant milk products and claims. 2019. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Based_on_science_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Based on science? Revisiting Nestlé’s infant milk products and claims |date=April 2019 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Based_on_science_FINAL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2019based, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Based on science? Revisiting Nestlé’s infant milk products and claims}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2019}, month = apr, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Based_on_science_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }