This really doesn’t have much to do with Nestlé. This is about the purchasing habits of consumers in different markets as influenced by global wealth inequality, lacking education, and inadequate access to healthcare. While large corporations absolutely have certain influence on those factors, this issue of more sugar in some products is so far downstream from the real problems that it’s just a useless distraction.
Nestlé isn’t the only brand of baby food available in those markets, they sit right next to products that do have that “no added sugar” label. But that healthier alternative is not what sells better, the cheaper ones do, why? Because the consumers in those markets either can’t afford the healthy food or they lack the education to know the importance of a good diet.
What products are available on a market is a reflection of the purchasing habits of the consumers in that market, and those habits are a result of the macro socioeconomic factors of the region. If Nestlé changed all their products to be “no added sugar” right now then the prices of those products would need to be bumped up slightly which would mean the consumers would shift to another brand that’s cheaper which has the same issue and hey presto nothing has changed.
Nestlés products having added sugar is not the problem it is a symptom.
So what do we do if we want to solve these big problems? Well that’s not easy, it largely depends on the governments and people of those regions, but we can help. There are charities like plan-international.org which tries to directly tackle inequality and education, but driving economic activity can also help, maybe next time you go grocery shopping you buy a Senegal peanut oil or a pack of batteries from The Philippines. These are big hard problems that won’t be easily solved, but if we are to have any chance to fixing them we need to be able to identify what the problem is, getting mad at a brand is a lot easier than recognizing the underlying issues.
::: spoiler spoiler Up until that point many players will have thought they could stop the supernova, that they could save everyone, they thought that was the point of the game, how you won. To then be faced with the fact that there is no stopping it and that the star has just reached it's end. It's like getting a bucket of ice water dropped on you realizing that there is no saving anyone, everyone will die, this system will be destroyed, this universe will end.
Accepting that end is hard, but I think the ending showing that all ending are also new beginnings, that everything is built on what came before goes a long way to letting people be ok with it.
Report finds Nestlé adds sugars to baby food in low-income countries (www.nbcnews.com)
Experts say there can be long-term health consequences for babies and infants who consume too much sugar at a young age....
[Possible spoilers] For those who played Outer Wilds, what was your favourite part of the game or your most "Ha-Ha!" discovery ?
There will be spoilers for the game and the DLC in my text and the comments...