Boycott Nesquik!

We are not joking, we are not exaggerating, we are not talking about ancient history.   We have documentation for every single assertion. Yes, in fact, there is slavery going on today and it is, apparently, used to make this cheap chocolate drink mix.


Below you will find documentation for every assertion found on the meme.  Below that, you will find natural, healthy, ethical chocolate milk alternatives.  You can indulge your love for chocolate without guilt!

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Neglect - Health and Safety

Have a little Salmonella with your chocolate?   Nationwide Recall of Chocolate Nesquik labeled "Best if sold by October 2014.”  Check your cupboards and check the codes at the link!  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/09/nesquik-recall-nestle_n_2099370.html    Also: “Calcium carbonate, an ingredient used in this product, may have the presence of Salmonella.”  (One wonders, of course, how Salmonella may have gotten into the calcium carbonate.  One possible explanation is that it was extracted from the bones of infected cows.) http://www.savemart.com/nationwide-nesquik-chocolate-powder-recall-for-salmonella 

Potentially dangerous chemicals included, which they neglect to inform you about:  These chemicals are Acrylamide and Furan, which the FDA considers potentially cancer causing.  And then of course there are the artificial flavorings—which they don’t even name, so we can't give you any information on them.  But we do give you a little idea of where they may come from in the 'Immoral' section below. 

High Sugar Content?  Nesquik contains more sugar than most sodas, another little something they neglect to tell you!  http://www.consumethisfirst.com/2010/04/27/does-flavored-milk-have-as-much-sugar-as-soda/ 

 Aluminum?   “ . . .  recall of Nestle Nesquik Strawberry Powder.  This product may contain small fragments of aluminum.”  Dated 11.14.08, accessed 12.29.14.    http://www.ct.gov/dds/cwp/view.asp?a=12&q=428204

Ethnic Cleansing

Nestle, the parent company of Nesquik, has established a research and development center on the site of the ethnically cleansed Palestinian town Al-Najd, which has been renamed Sderot.  More details are available here: http://www.palestineremembered.com/Gaza/Najd/  For documentation on Nestle’s presence in Sderot, please scroll down to the entry for 2002 on this link:  https://www.osem.co.il/en/company/history

 

 

Slavery, Child Labor, and Human Trafficking

“The chocolate the company uses for its ubiquitous candies is among the most unethical available. Sourced from West Africa, particularly Cote d’Ivoire, its harvesting relies heavily on child labor. This is unsurprising, given its abuses of worker’s rights elsewhere in the world. A lawsuit in California, filed by International Rights Advocates, implicates Nestlé, along with agribusiness giants Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland, in the trafficking of Malian children to Cote d’Ivoire to work on cocoa farms.”  http://www.foodispower.org/ethical-food-choices/  (Accessed 12.29.14) 

 

 

Quack Nutrition

Nestle promotes Nesquik as an “extra nutritious drink for your family,” in spite of the fact that the main ingredient is simply sugar.  Next on the ingredients list is alkali (chemically) processed cocoa, (GMO) soy lecithin, Carrageenan (a thickener derived from highly processed sea weed),  Salt,  some Artificial Flavors (potentially derived from very immoral business practices),  and an unnamed ‘Spice,’ whatever that is. And we do believe you have a right to know exactly what is in your food.  The chemicals listed above aren’t mentioned on the label, because they only have to list what they put in your food on purpose.  None of the stuff you eat that gets in your food by accident is ever mentioned on the label.  But let’s get back to this quack nutrition.   

               

Nestle then adds what it refers to as vitamins and minerals. The first of these is calcium carbonate—the source of the salmonella mentioned above. This added rock or bone derived calcium provides 10% of the daily value, bringing a serving of Nesquik with milk up to 40%.  The milk itself, however, provides 30%.  With or without that fortification, you still need at least 3 servings of calcium rich food to meet your minimum daily requirement.  That 10% is not significant, nor does it amount to “extra nutritious” by any means.  In fact, if you look closely at the label, you will see that the added nutrition is only provided in a few categories and never for more than 10% of the daily requirement.    

Nesquik is basically sugar, a little chemically processed cocoa, GMO lecithin to help all the ingredients blend together, a non-nutritive thickener to fool you into believing you bought something worth having, a little salt, and some unspecified chemicals and ‘spice.’  Then as a marketing ploy, they add a tad of highly processed bone or rock calcium and a drop of dubious and controversial synthetic vitamins.  Those synthetic vitamins are likely derived from petroleum products or GMO yeast.  Meanwhile there are some other hidden and potentially dangerous chemicals they don’t legally need to mention.  So, of course, they don’t. But, in case you missed it, we did mention them above in the first section on 'Neglect.'

                 

You can take a look at their label here: https://www.nesquik.com/adults/products/nesquikpowder/chocolate109oz.aspx#

                 

And their “extra nutritious” claim here:  https://www.nesquik.com/adults/products/nesquikpowder/chocolate109oz.aspx

   

 

Unethical

Nestle, Nesquik’s  parent company, was voted “World’s Most Unethical Company” by Ethical Consumer Magazine.  Many of the reasons why are covered at the following link, in addition to a list of their many brands.  Interestingly, the article doesn’t cover many of the other issues we are bringing to light here.  They have compiled a list of  many other transgressions: 

http://www.pauldonahue.net/Nestle.html

Immoral

Human cell lines from aborted fetuses are used to test flavor enhancers.  Nestle, Nesquik’s parent company, has partnered with Senomyx to provide us with this tasty bit of news, which might in fact have something to do with the unnamed artificial flavors in Nesquik products:   

https://www.biotech-company-using-cell-lines-from-aborted-babies-in-food-enhancement-te/

 

 

Killers

A booklet called The Baby Killer, was published by the British NGO, War On Want, which went into detail about how Nesquik’s parent company, Nestle, promoted baby formula in third world countries.  The result of Nestle’s efforts were that “Millions of babies died from malnutrition.” More information here: http://www.businessinsider.com/nestles-infant-formula-scandal-2012-6?op=1

And here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott

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Facebook Shareable Meme

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Our complete Boycott List

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Chocolate milk can be so much better!

 

Check your local market or natural food store for organic and Fair Trade— chocolate milk, chocolate syrup, chocolate milk powder, or cocoa mix.  If you can’t find it, ask. If it isn’t available locally, you can buy on line.

Azure Standard is my favorite on-line outlet for organic, fair trade food.  They specialize in reasonably priced, ethical products from small businesses.  They ship by UPS anywhere in the “lower 48” states, and they have truck routes that deliver to many cites and mid-sized towns.

Here are some examples of their organic and fair trade chocolate milk products, all of which you may be able to find locally as well.  (Prices quoted may change, as prices usually do): 

Equal Exchange Cocoa Mix for hot chocolate, $5.95 for 12 oz: https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/12842/

Organic Valley ready-made fair trade chocolate milk. You get a carton of 12 - 8oz individual servings for $14.00:  https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/5008//

Here's the best deal for chocolate lovers—five pounds of unsweetened, organic, fair trade cocoa powder for $29.05.  https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/3904//  (Your local health food store may have smaller amounts available if you’re not quite ready for five pounds.)

You will find a few recipes at the following link for using that unsweetened cocoa powder, including one for chocolate syrup that you can then use to make chocolate milk!  http://www.pinterest.com/roseann0617/unsweetened-cocoa-powder-recipes/

Don’t have time to make the syrup first?  Here is a recipe for hot cocoa that starts with the powdered cocoa:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Simple-Hot-Cocoa-For-One-369469

You can also make your own organic, fair trade--chocolate candy using the cocoa powder!  You just need a sweetener and either cocoa butter, coconut oil, or palm oil; which can be used interchangeably in the recipes below.  However, if you use something other than cocoa butter it is best to store your chocolate in the fridge so it doesn’t melt if the kitchen gets warm.  When shopping for cocoa butter look for fair trade and organic—or you end up supporting the same horrors as you would with unethical chocolate.  Azure Standard doesn’t seem to have any cocoa butter in stock right now, if they don’t when you check, ask at your local health food store or substitute with coconut oil or palm oil and refrigerate.  (Tip, red palm oil is supper nutritious and tasty.  And it is available certified sustainable from old growth oil palms!)

The recipes below are all for dark chocolate.  If you find they are too strong for your taste buds, experiment with replacing some of the cocoa powder with powdered milk until you get a balance you like.  Azure Standard has a number of products that come up under a search of “Milk Powder;”and they aren’t all dairy milk.  Your local health food store may have a number of options as well. 

Here’s the recipes for homemade, yummy, ethical, guilt free chocolate:

Wellness Mama’s Healthy Chocolate: http://wellnessmama.com/6764/chocolate-recipe/  (Check the comments before you start!)

Three Ingredient Chocolate: http://mywholefoodlife.com/2014/02/13/3-ingredient-chocolate-bars/  (Great comments section here!)

Homemade Chocolate Chips: http://wholenewmom.com/whole-new-budget/homemade-chocolate-chips-carob-chips-recipe-revised/  (Check the comments here as well!)

 

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Background image and logo from Wikimedia Commons:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bottles_of_Nesquik.JPG

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