Sugar, Sodium and Saturated Fat
Our commitment: Further Decrease Sugars, Sodium, and Saturated Fat
By 2016 - Reduce sugar content by an average of 10% from 2013 levels in all relevant products that do not meet the Nutritional Foundation criteria for sugar.
By 2016 - Reduce salt content by an average of 10% from 2012 levels in all relevant products that do not meet the Nutritional Foundation criteria for salt.
By 2016 - Zero foods and beverages will have trans fat originating from PHOs used as functional ingredients.
By 2018 - Reduce saturated fat by an average of 10% from 2013 levels in all relevant products that do not meet the Nutritional Foundation criteria for saturated fat.
Sugar
Nestlé remains strongly committed to helping consumers meet the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation to consume no more than 10% of daily calories from added sugars. We also support the inclusion of added sugars on the new Nutrition Facts Label announced in 2016, and we will be updating our product labels accordingly. Between 2014 and 2016, we reduced sugar in our food and beverage portfolio by 6% from 2013 levels in products that did not meet Nestlé Nutritional Foundation criteria.1 Our continual challenge is to develop solutions that meet consumer taste and texture preferences, while also reducing sugar content in our foods and beverages.
While we missed our 10% reduction target, we made significant progress in our U.S. beverage portfolio. Nestlé USA’s retail beverage division achieved an 8% sugar reduction in 2016, mostly due to sugar reductions in NESQUIK® powder and ready-to-drink during the last three years. In addition to reducing sugar, Nestlé Professional removed high-fructose corn syrup from more than 60 beverage recipes sold out-of-home. In 2017, and on an ongoing basis, we will continue to work toward further sugar reduction across our portfolio.
In 2016, Nestlé announced an important breakthrough in the restructuring of sugar molecules that could allow us to reduce the total amount of sugar in our confection products by up to 40%, without impacting taste. The restructuring was done using only natural ingredients, and Nestlé hopes to apply this research in our confections products as early as 2018.
Sodium
Nestlé has been on a journey to reduce sodium across our food portfolio for more than a decade. With 97% of U.S. households buying Nestlé brands, we have a tremendous opportunity to make an impact on American diets. We have worked diligently to implement our sodium reduction efforts to ensure that renovated foods and beverages deliver an improved nutritional profile without compromising on taste. Since 2013, Nestlé has reduced sodium content by 9%, the equivalent of 570 tons of salt. In 2017 and beyond, we will continue to reduce added sodium in our products to support individuals and families in meeting global recommendations.
Our further work on sodium included support for the voluntary sodium-reduction guidelines set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The guidelines establish specific goals to support the voluntary, coordinated, and gradual reduction of sodium across the U.S. food supply, including restaurants, food service providers, and food manufacturers. Nestlé supports the FDA in the broad adoption of these recommendations and believes that the food industry can create a meaningful reduction in population sodium intake over time, while allowing consumers to adapt their taste preferences toward a healthier diet. Nestlé also has endorsed sodium targets on a global level aligned with the World Health Organization.
Our sodium reduction efforts received widespread praise from consumers and groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, as well as the American Heart Association, whose call to action urged consumers to encourage food companies to make sodium reduction a top priority. We look forward to further engagement with the FDA on voluntary sodium guidelines and hope to continue to drive a broader industry dialogue.
Trans Fat and Saturated Fat
Beginning in 2014, Nestlé strengthened our longstanding policy on trans fat and committed to removing trans fat originating from partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) used as functional ingredients in all of our food and beverage products. By the end of 2016, we had met our goal, with trans fat from PHOs used as functional ingredients removed across our product lines, two years ahead of FDA’s 2018 deadline. On saturated fat, our objective was to make reductions by an average of at least 10% from 2013 levels during a three-year period (2014–2016) among food and beverages not already meeting the Nestlé Nutrition Foundation criteria for saturated fat.
Though we made progress in 2015 and 2016, most notably in Nestlé USA’s prepared foods division, reducing saturated fat without impacting taste or texture is our biggest reformulation challenge. By the end of 2016, we had achieved a 4% reduction, renovation work that we will continue. Globally, Nestlé S.A. has extended the timeline of this 10% reduction goal until 2020. Our U.S.-based R&D experts are working to develop solutions to achieve this ambitious objective.
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More to Explore:
Nestlé Nutritional Profiling System
Sweet Treats Portion Guidance
Nestlé Policy on Sugars
Notes: Relevant products means to exclude exemptions (Nestlé Nutrition, Nestlé Health Science, Nestlé Professional, Nestlé Purina Petcare, plain water/coffee/tea, Confectionery gifting, Culinary free-dosing and table-top seasonings, and products designed for children below four years of age as other legal considerations are relevant) and where regulations are not allowed.
The Nestlé Nutritional Foundation criteria are based on nutrition science and public health dietary recommendations, such as those of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Institute of Medicine and other global or U.S. authorities, such as the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Our products are evaluated against these criteria, using the Nestlé Nutritional Profiling System, which determines their nutritional value and whether they achieve the Nestlé Nutritional Foundation status.