Nestlé in society Creating Shared Value and meeting our commitments 2015

Nestlé in society:
Creating Shared Value
Nutrition, health
and wellness
Rural development
Water
Environmental
sustainability
Human rights
and compliance
Our
people
Customer health and safety G4-DMA, FP7
Tackling dietary deficiencies and assessing health
and economic impact
In developing countries, anaemia remains a severe public
health issue with 50% of pregnant women and about 40% of
pre-school children estimated to be anaemic. In many
developing countries, iron deficiency anaemia is aggravated by
worm infections, malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. Moreover, a
lack of iodine in the diet is the largest cause of preventable
brain damage, which affects 1.8 billion people worldwide.
Deficiencies during pregnancy can have a seriously damaging
effect on long-term child health.
The popularity of Maggi products and their market reach
gives us a solid platform for helping tackle these nutrient
deficiencies. In 2015, an estimated 44 billion of our Maggi
products were fortified with iron. Furthermore, we put iodised
salt in our Maggi products to fortify them: in 2015,
approximately 95.1 billion individual servings of soups,
seasonings and noodles were fortified.
Based on the large reach of our portfolio, scientists at the
NRC, in collaboration with external academic experts,
continuously research the effect that our fortified foods and
beverages have on the health of a nation’s people and
economy.
In 2015, a systematic review of the literature suggested that
iron-fortified noodles and condiments, including seasonings,
can effectively reduce the risk of anaemia. Armed with this
knowledge, our scientists sought to link the evidence that
consuming fortified condiments can have an impact on
anaemia. The first country selected for assessment was Côte
d’Ivoire, a country in which about half of the women and
young infants are anaemic, as are 75% of infants aged
between 6 and 59 months. The production losses caused by
anaemia were calculated to be 297 000 Disability Adjusted Life
Years (DALYs) (the equivalent to 4900 full life spans lost) and
the economic long-term costs were found to be equivalent to
2.5% of GDP. Iron-fortified condiments were estimated to
contribute to a significant reduction in terms of health and
economic impact.
To underscore the critical importance of nutrition, we
market all our fortified Maggi products with campaigns that
promote their health benefits and affordability.
See more about anaemia.
Fortified food in Central America
Central America is one of the most vulnerable regions in terms of
undernourishment within the Americas. Populations in Panama,
Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras
were specifically identified as lacking adequate intakes of iron,
zinc, vitamin A, folic acid and iodine. In response, Nestlé Central
America launched the micronutrient fortification initiative.
Following the WHO’s recommendation to use food products
of frequent consumption as a vehicle of micronutrient
fortification, we identified and fortified (or increased the
fortification levels) of key products with micronutrients relevant
to the region. These foods and beverages included:
• IDEAL® Evaporated Milk (fortified with folic acid and iron);
• Maggi Chicken Bouillon and Chicken Noodle Soup (both
fortified with iron);
• Malher Chicken Bouillon and Chicken Noodle Soup (iron); and
• Klim/NIDO® Forticrece Milk Powder and Nestlé Esencial®
(calcium, iron, zinc and vitamins A, D and C). Increased
fortification of the latter, and the addition of folic acid and
vitamin B12, are set to take place in 2016.
In 2015, Nestlé Central America delivered 8 billion fortified
portions of these products.
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