Global food giant Nestle is developing a new nutrition strategy after a leaked internal document shows most of its food and drinks are unhealthy.

An internal presentation circulated among top executives earlier this year revealed more than 60 percent of Nestle’s mainstream food and drinks portfolio didn’t meet “recognised definition of health”.

The document stated that “some [Nestle] categories and products will never be ‘healthy’ no matter how much we renovate”.

The presentation, seen by the Financial Times, revealed that only 37 percent of Nestle’s food and beverages by revenues (not including products such as pet food, baby food and specialised medical nutrition) achieved a rating of over 3.5 under Australia’s five-star health rating system. 

Nestlé, the maker of KitKats, Maggi Noodles and Nescafé, describes the 3.5 star threshold as a “recognised definition of health”. This system scores foods out of five stars and is used in research by international groups such as the Access to Nutrition Foundation.

The Alarming Results

Within its overall food and drink portfolio, approximately 70 percent of Nestlé’s food products failed to meet that threshold, the presentation said, along with 96 percent of beverages — excluding pure coffee — and 99 percent of Nestlé’s confectionery and ice cream portfolio.

Water and dairy products scored better, with 82 percent of waters and 60 percent of dairy meeting the threshold.