In the previous article, I concluded my discussion of Nesquik ingredients with salt. That is where the line-up of added vitamin and mineral compounds starts, as per the ingredient list found on Nesquik Powder 33% Less Sugar. However, because Nestlé offers another version of the powdered beverage that contains additional components, I will investigate them to ensure completeness of my analysis. Once again, the ingredient list is provided for convenience purposes:
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Since the next ingredient on the list, sodium ascorbate, is a form of ascorbic acid or more commonly known vitamin C, I will refrain discussing it until later in the article. For simplicity purposes, all vitamins and minerals present in the powdered drink will be considered together, as I discuss the drawbacks of artificial fortification of processed foods.
Carrageenan follows sodium ascorbate and before I knew it, there was a pertinent piece by Prevention magazine before my eyes. The article urged banning carrageenan from consumption based on evidence that the compound causes inflammation of the digestive system, which can lead to ulcers and bleeding. Earlier studies- amazingly, concerns regarding this additive date back to 1960s- suggest the link between carrageenan and gastrointestinal disease in laboratory animals, including ulcerative colitis, intestinal lesions and colon cancer. What is really troubling, however, is that this red seaweed extract has no nutritional value and is only used for its emulsifying properties.
As if to counteract the adverse effects of previous ingredients, Nestlé has a change of heart and adds vitamins and minerals. However, their benefit to health is questionable. According to the Internal Medicine physician, Dr. Matt Lederman, we absorb vitamins and minerals from our food better than we do from a supplement. And oftentimes, supplementation not only does not prevent or cure a chronic disease, but causes harm in increasing the rate of mortality (specifically, vitamin A, B and beta-carotine). You see, the commercial food producers have it backwards. First, the raw ingredients like cocoa are stripped of the naturally occurring vitamins and minerals through rather obscure refining processes by wholesalers, only to be re-fortified by manufacturers. By following this approach, Nestlé once again invalidates its own claims of seeking health and overall well-being for its customers by intentionally overriding the nature's order of things.
The world's largest food and beverage corporation, it provides excessively well for its current CEO, Paul Bulcke, whose annual income is nearing CA$13.7M. The man who believes that any water in excess of 30 litres per day per capita is a commodity to be corporately owned and traded*. The man whose company openly uses GM ingredients in its products, insisting on their absolute safety for human health, never mind the exorbitant amount of pesticides used on GM crops and the unknown long-term effects of genetic experimentation on human health. The man who is married with three children, yet regards ours as clumps of dirt.
Thoroughly disgusted with my findings, I recognized the feeling of emptiness and numbness in my whole being. The understanding that this is not an isolated case of greed and sociopathic behaviour is daunting and makes me wonder how much longer I can walk in the murky waters of modern food production. Does anyone care enough to boycott the Nestlés of the world, ditch cardboard boxes and aluminum cans and allocate time for healthful food preparation at home? I really hope so, because if we breathe life into a monster, we can just as easily take it away.
*The notion of access to water as a human right was challenged by Nestlé’s 68-year-old former CEO and current Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, as well as Bulcke himself when he suggested at the World Water Week in Stockholm, if something isn't given value, people tend to waste it- a daring segue into corporate privatization of water.
Cited Sources:
http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/carrageenan-natural-ingredient-you-should-ban-your-diet
http://www.rodale.com/carrageenan
Plant-Based Nutrition, Course Three: Principles In Practice, The Role of Supplements by Dr. Matt Lederman
http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/vitamins
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=8251118&ticker=NSRGY
http://aattp.org/nestle-ceo-water-not-a-right-should-be-given-a-market-value-and-privatized-video/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/7286179/Nestle-chief-executive-Paul-Bulcke-is-not-one-for-a-break-but-he-loves-his-Kit-Kat.html
http://www.nestle.com/media/newsandfeatures/world-water-week
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