Food and beverage conglomerate Nestlé has cancelled an online talk after health experts claimed that the company was flouting national regulations on advertising of foodstuffs for infants and young children.
According to a Final News 24 report, Nestlé’s marketing webinar, ‘Free Stokvel Mom and Child Forum’, was expected to take place on 14 August, but was cancelled because of pressure. The webinar claimed to provide information about infant and child nutrition.
Civil society coalition Healthy Living Alliance (Heala) said advertising for the webinar “prominently featured three expensive, ultra-processed and sugary Nestlé products for infants and toddlers”. Attendees also stood a chance of winning a R500 grocery store voucher.
Heala and nutrition experts said the advertising had violated the 2012 national regulations that “prohibited manufacturers or distributors of complementary food for infants and young children, such as Nestlé, from providing incentives, enticements or invitations that might encourage sales or promote these products”.
Nestlé (South Africa) corporate communications and public affairs director – East and Southern Africa region, Saint-Francis Tohlang, said: “Having considered the allegations shared in the media and following our correspondence with the national Department of Health, we decided to cancel the event. It is important to emphasise that we still maintain that the event would have been fully compliant with the 2012 Regulations Relating to Foodstuffs for Infants and Young Children.”
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