Major food giants face pressure to cut unhealthy product reliance

A new report has highlighted the heavy reliance of major food manufacturers on unhealthy products. Investors managing $5 trillion in assets have called on these companies to improve transparency and set targets for healthier offerings. The assessment covered five global food giants: Danone, Kellogg's, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, and Unilever. Their products were evaluated in Australia, France, and Mexico. Australia had the highest proportion of unhealthy items at 65%, followed by France at 63% and Mexico at 60%. Danone stood out as the only manufacturer with a majority of healthier products in each country, with just 35% classified as unhealthy.

Kellogg's, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, and Unilever each had over half of their surveyed products falling below a standard definition of 'healthy'. Holly Gabriel from ShareAction urged these companies to disclose the share of their sales coming from healthier products and to set clear targets for improvement. Mhairi Brown from WASSH added that government enforcement would be necessary to drive meaningful reformulation of products. The findings show a significant dependence on unhealthy food sales among major manufacturers. Investors are now pushing for greater disclosure and actionable targets to shift towards healthier product portfolios. Danone’s performance suggests that change is possible within the industry.