The global beverage behemoths may have perfect scores on paper -- but campaigners remain unconvinced by their sustainability in practice
The Swiss food and drinks company Nestle has topped the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) with an overall score (92 out of 100) that was double the sector average. Companies are scored in various categories across three 'dimensions'-- environmental, economic and social. In the environmental dimension, Nestle managed a perfect score of 100 points. Another winner this year was Coca-Cola European Partners, which managed to score 100 points in six categories, including packaging and health and nutrition.
The DJSI invites the world's largest 3,400 publically traded companies to complete its assessment. It is highly regarded as a leading index of corporate sustainability. But Sustain's members and readers may by now be thinking that what it demonstrates is that some of the world's largest food and beverage companies have got very good at filling the forms in -- and at ensuring that the forms ask the right questions.
Certainly Sustain member Babymilk Action, which campaigns to stop misleading marketing by the baby feeding industry, would dissent from Nestle's ranking, given that Nestlé has long been the target of a boycott over its aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes around the world. Monitoring conducted by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), of which Babymilk Action is a member, shows that Nestlé continues to systematically violate international marketing requirements.
And Coca-Cola's high score on nutrition is puzzling, given that many of its products contain high levels of sugar: in fact according to Sustain's campaign for a sugary drinks tax, sweetened soft drinks are the largest single source of sugar for children aged 4-10 years and teenagers, and are linked to obesity and tooth decay.
Read more about the awards on Foodnavigator here, and find out more about Sustain's campaign for a voluntary sugary drinks levy here.
Published Friday 30 September 2016
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
