Nestle, PepsiCo, Unilever sell less healthy products in India: Report
New Delhi: A recent report reveals that major food and beverage companies, including Nestle, PepsiCo, and Unilever, are selling less healthy products in low income countries such as India.
According to a global index published by Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI), as cited by Business Standard, Nestle, PepsiCo and Unilever were among the companies found to be offering products in low income countries with lower scores on a health rating system.
The non-profit organisation found that across 30 companies, products sold in low-income countries received lower ratings on a star system developed in Australia and New Zealand compared to those sold in high income countries.
The average score was just 1.8 out of 5 for low income countries, while it was 2.3 for high income countries. Products with a score above 3.5 are considered healthy.
Mark Wijne, research director at ATNI, told Reuters that it is clear these companies are increasingly active in the poorest countries, but they are not selling their healthier products there.
“It’s a wake-up call for governments in these countries to be vigilant,” he added.
According to the World Health Organization, over one billion people around the world are living with obesity. The World Bank estimates that 70 percent of individuals who are overweight or obese reside in low-and-middle-income countries.
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BJP trying to add illegal voters from outside in Bengal electoral rolls: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that the BJP was trying to include illegal voters from Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the electoral rolls of the state to turn the poll outcome in favour of the saffron party.
Addressing an election rally in Paschim Medunipur’s Chandrakona, Banerjee also reiterated her plea before the gathering to ignore who the TMC candidates in the state’s assembly segments were and consider her as the candidate in all 294 seats.
“I was informed by Abhishek (Banerjee) yesterday that he had to rush to the EC office in Kolkata from the middle of his campaign schedule upon receiving information that about 30,000 forms were submitted in a single day to include fresh voters,” the TMC supremo said.
“The BJP is trying to include illegal voters from Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the electoral rolls of Bengal. They are planning to transport outstation voters by means of railways, as they did in Bihar,” she alleged.
Claiming that the saffron party has "no respect" for Bengal and its people, the chief minister accused the BJP of colluding with the Election Commission and deleting names of women and minorities from the state’s electoral rolls in the garb of the SIR exercise.
“The BJP and EC are snatching the citizenship, constitutional and democratic rights of people. We will fight them every inch of the way,” Banerjee said.
Maintaining that the BJP would impose “ban on non-veg food consumption” of Bengalis if it comes to power in the state, the CM said the TMC would thwart the Centre’s attempts to implement NRC in the state through a backdoor and its plans of sending targeted citizens to detention camps.
