Industry bites back: Unilever, Nestlé, Ferrero and Coca-Cola dispute reliance on unhealthy F&B sales

29 Feb 2024 --- Leading food and beverage manufacturers in the UK dispute the outcomes of a report published by the youth activist movement Bite Back, which concludes that “the majority of global food manufacturers are reliant on selling unhealthy products in the UK.” It bases this conclusion on an analysis by the University of Oxford of the 2022 offer of the country’s ten largest global F&B businesses.

Bite Back’s report concludes that products high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) make up at least two-thirds of packaged food and drink sales for seven of the investigated companies. The organization calls for a food system where companies are held to higher standards. 

Nutrition Insight speaks with Ferrero, Unilever, Nestlé, Coca-Cola Great Britain and Danone UK and Ireland, which are all named in the report. It finds that 100% of Ferrero’s 2022 total UK sales consisted of unhealthy products, 84% in the case of Unilever, 70% for Nestlé, 36% for Coca-Cola and 2% for Danone. 

A Ferrero spokesperson tells us the company offers most of its products in small portions and is “disappointed that Bite Back’s analysis has not considered the important role of small portion sizes within an overall diet. In addition, Bite Back’s analysis features data from mid-2022 and therefore does not include our non-HFSS product ranges, which have been subsequently introduced.”

Unilever comments: “The statistics Bite Back have included in their report are based on looking at only 63% of our products, rather than our full product range and are therefore not an accurate representation. Our published data, capturing 100% of our products in the UK, shows that 32% of our portfolio is non-HFSS.” 

A Nestlé spokesperson details that the company is not as reliant on unhealthy product sales as the report suggests. 

“We published data regarding the status of our entire portfolio, with HFSS products accounting for 27% of our portfolio in 2022. This report excludes the sales of more than half of our products in the scope of the UK Nutrient Profiling Model, including coffee and coffee mixes, which are more than 98% non-HFSS.” 

Richard Hall, general secretary of Danone UK and Ireland, underscores that the food industry needs to do more to promote healthier food products, which requires a level playing field and an agreed definition of healthy foods, as there are “wildly differing views.”  

“We believe this definition should focus on reducing the amount of fat, sugar and salt in food. For consumers, the easiest choice needs to be the healthiest choice, and this is likely to require government-backed incentives. As a nation we cannot and must not let another year go by without tackling this issue head on.”

State of the food industry 
Bite Back’s report “Fuel us don’t fool us: Are food giants rigging the system against children’s health?” used the UK 2004/05 Nutrient Profiling Model to identify unhealthy or HFSS products and compared these with the company’s 2022 UK sales figures.  

The research team analyzed the nutrition information for 241 brands and 5,298 products, excluding non-food products, alcohol and low-alcohol products, tobacco, dried tea and coffee, infant formula, baby food and seasonal products. 

The report asserts that the most significant businesses rely on selling food and drinks “generally not included in the UK dietary guidance.” The top five F&B categories by sales value are chocolate, savory snacks, reduced sugar soft drinks, regular soft drinks and ice cream. 

Nestlé and Unilever comment that the report does not cover their entire portfolio, which includes more non-HFSS products.Meanwhile, Nestlé’s spokesperson underscores: “The huge discrepancy between this report and our published data is due to a vastly different scope, diverse methodologies and inconsistencies in HFSS calculations and demonstrates the importance of a consistent approach to reporting.” 

“We are supportive of transparent reporting and welcome any efforts to help harmonize industry reporting.”

According to the report, 100% of sales by chocolate manufacturer Ferrero were unhealthy in 2022. 

However, a spokesperson of the company counters: “As a responsible company, Ferrero offers shoppers high-quality products in small, often individually wrapped portions with clear nutritional labeling. In fact, more than 90% of our products come in portions with less than 150 calories. We also support education on how to enjoy these treats as part of a balanced lifestyle.”

Limited unhealthy sales 
Meanwhile, two businesses in the top ten take less than a third of their product sales from unhealthy products — Kraft Heinz (33%) and Danone (2%) — while 36% of Coca-Cola’s F&B sales consist of unhealthy products. 

Bite Back comments that the portfolios of these businesses “are more weighted to products that don’t meet the HFSS threshold, such as dairy products, bottled water, savory products and lower sugar drinks.” 

It commends Danone for showing that it is possible to be a sizable, successful food company without relying on unhealthy food sales. Although Coca-Cola’s top-selling product is HFSS, Bite Back notes that its overall sales are skewed to non-HFSS products, as most of its other drinks are lower in sugar. 

“We aim to help people reduce the sugar they consume while offering them a choice of great-tasting drinks. Today, we lead all our soft drinks marketing with low- and zero-sugar products in Great Britain, representing over two-thirds of all the drinks we sell in GB,” highlights Coca-Cola Great Britain. 

Coca-Cola's overall sales are skewed to non-HFSS products, as many of its drinks are low in sugar.“We are committed to ensuring we market our products responsibly and uphold the highest standards.” 

Danone’s Hall adds: “One year ago Danone — one of the nation’s biggest food and drink companies — introduced new health commitments in the UK, which set health standards based on HFSS that our consumer product portfolio must adhere to. Danone’s commitments remain the most ambitious in the industry.” 

Healthier sales target
Bite Back recommends manufacturers to “set and report on a healthier sales target as a proportion of total volume sales,” which they should base on the 2004/05 Nutrient Profiling Model. According to the movement, voluntary actions by businesses to make their products healthier have had mixed results. 

The organization celebrates the UK’s soft drinks industry levy as an impactful regulatory measure but notes that the country’s voluntary sugar reduction program had “disappointing” progress. The report notes that the industry achieved a 3.5% sales weight average reduction from 2015 to 2020 against a 7.1% increase in tons of sugar sold in the same period. 

Although the report lists limited actions from businesses to reduce sugar content in their products, Unilever and Nestlé counter that they aim to improve the healthiness of their portfolios. 

Unilever’s spokesperson highlights: “We continue to take action to reduce the salt, sugar and calories in our products, keeping their great taste, as well as offering choice to our shoppers by introducing healthier variants to our ranges.” 

Meanwhile, Nestlé’s spokesperson underscores that the company “globally has set high ambitions to grow the sales of the more nutritious part of the portfolio, among other initiatives as part of our global nutrition strategy, and we have a strict marketing to children policy in place.” 

“At Nestlé, we understand the need for positive change within the food system, as well as our role in the process,” continues the spokesperson. “We also hope our voluntary actions and commitments will inspire the rest of the industry and help facilitate a wider collaboration to improve the food system.”

Ferrero notes that over 90% of its products come in portions with less than 150 calories.Marketing and child-appealing packaging 
To address unhealthy marketing identified by Bite Back, the organization recommends that F&B businesses phase out advertising of HFSS products and introduce clear and transparent labeling. The team urges businesses to include color-coded front-of-pack labeling and remove health and nutrition claims or cartoon and brand equity characters on unhealthy products. 

The report reveals that the leading food manufacturers dominate digital advertising spending in four categories associated with children’s excess sugar and calorie intake: biscuits, chocolate, crisps/snacks and ice cream. Moreover, it claims that seven of the ten businesses examined in the report use child-appealing tactics on packaging for unhealthy food.  

However, Unilever’s spokesperson counters: “In 2003, we were one of the first companies to apply principles for responsible marketing of foods and beverages to children.” 

“All of our children’s ice creams are under 110 calories and non-HFSS, such as Wall’s Twister products, and we have lower sugar and salt options for some of our best-loved products, including Marmite Reduced Salt, Ben & Jerry’s Lighten Up, Carte D’Or Vanilla Light, Hellmann’s Lighter than Light mayonnaise and Knorr Zero Salt.”

By Jolanda van Hal