Kit Kat Cereal Proves Failure On Sugar, Say Charities
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
Nestlé promotes ‘nutritious’ product that is a quarter sugar
And this is the caption for the picture.
With 24.7g of sugar per 100g, a bowl of Kit Kat cereal accounts for a third of a seven-year-old’s suggested intake
This is the first two paragraphs.
The launch of a Kit Kat breakfast cereal shows the government strategy of relying on food companies to help fight obesity has failed, campaigners have claimed.
Charities such as the British Heart Foundation have accused Nestlé of “irresponsible” promotion of a product which is a quarter sugar, arguing that it makes the case for state intervention to make food healthier.
After this start, I thought I’d better check the ingredients on the product page on Nestlé’s web site!
Under a heading of Our Carefully Selected Ingredients, this is said.
Whole grain WHEAT (31.4%), maize semolina, sugar, dextrose, palm oil, WHEAT flour, cocoa powder* (5.4%), glucose syrup, WHEAT starch, skimmed MILK powder, calcium carbonate, BARLEY malt extract, fat-reduced cocoa powder*, flavourings, cocoa butter*, salt, cocoa mass*, emulsifier: lecithin, whey powder (MILK), MILK fat, antioxidant: tocopherols, iron, vitamin B3, B5, B6, B2, B9.
May contain NUTS.
*Rainforest Alliance Certified. Find out more at ra.org.
This product on their own admission contains over thirty per cent wheat.
Now let’s add a very large dollop of peer-reviewed science.
Coeliac Disease: Can We Avert The Impending Epidemic In India? is the title as that of this peer-reviewed paper on the Indian Journal Of Research Medicine.
This is an extract.
The time of first exposure to wheat influences the development of celiac disease. In countries such as Finland, Estonia, and Denmark, characterized by low gluten consumption in infancy, celiac disease prevalence is much lower than in Sweden where gluten consumption is high in infancy. A natural experiment occurred in Sweden about two decades ago when national recommendations were made to introduce wheat into the diet after cessation of breast feeding at six months. This change was coupled with increased wheat gluten consumption through infant feeds. Together these measures resulted in a two-fold increase in incidence of celiac disease in Sweden, which was attributed to introduction of wheat into the diet after cessation of breast feeding.
In 1996 this recommendation was changed to introduce gluten in gradually increasing amounts while the infant was still being breast fed. This led to a dramatic decrease in celiac disease incidence.
Should we be following the route of these Scandinavian countries and eat wheat sensibly and reduce the amount we give our children or should we follow what Nestlé’s marketeers want us to do?
As a coeliac, who is allergic to the gluten in wheat, I wouldn’t touch this product with a spoon certified by my cardiologist.
The author also says this about wheat.
The other dimension to this problem is that not all wheat is alike when it comes to inducing celiac disease. The ancient or diploid wheats (e.g. Triticum monococcum) are poorly antigenic, while the modern hexaploid wheats (e.g. Triticum aestivum) have highly antigenic glutens, more capable of inducing celiac disease. India, for centuries, grew diploid and later tetraploid wheat which is less antigenic, while hexaploid wheat used in making bread is recently introduced. Thus a change back to older varieties of wheat may have public health consequences. Public health authorities may well want to examine both these avenues, i.e. infant feeding recommendations and wheat varieties cultivated in the country, for opportunities to avert the epidemic of celiac disease which is impending in our country.
The author may be talking about India, but as he says modern wheats have highly antigenic glutens and will cause an epidemic of coeliac disease.
I may not have had any medical training, but I spent a miserable first fifty years of my life as an undiagnosed coeliac.
Conclusion
KitKat Cereal should be labelled that it may cause coeliac disease.
From 2025, Nestlé Waters France Will Use The First Hydrogen-Powered Freight Train Through An Innovative Solution Developed by Alstom and ENGIE
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Alstom.
These are the main points of the press release.
-
Nestlé Waters will be the first company in Europe to benefit from the hydrogen fuel cell solution developed by Alstom and ENGIE, for rail freight.
-
The purpose is to operate the first hydrogen-powered freight train from the Vosges plant, thanks to a hydrogen generator wagon system developed by Alstom and supplied with renewable hydrogen by ENGIE, from 2025.
-
engieltimately, this project should enable Nestlé Waters to reduce emissions by 10,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
-
This new collaboration is in line with the actions Nestlé Waters has been carried out for several years to decarbonize its supply chain.
In this Alstom visualisation that accompanies the press release, an Alstom Prima locomotive can be seen pulling a tender full of hydrogen, that generates electricity.
It would appear to be a very simple concept.
- The electric locomotive uses electrification where it is available.
- On lines without electrification, hydrogen is used to generate electricity.
- The locomotive and the tender are connected by a cable.
- I suspect for longer distances, larger generators with a larger hydrogen capacity can be developed.
- It would appear that typical SNCF Prima locomotives have at least 4 MW of power, so the generator must be at least this size.
I could see this concept being used with a 4 MW Class 90 electric locomotive.
Nestlé Unveils New Double-Stacking Rail Logistics Plan To Reduce Carbon Footprint
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Nestlé.
These paragraphs explain the concept.
Nestlé UK & Ireland has unveiled plans to increase freight capacity on trains to allow the double-stacking of products, an important step towards reducing its carbon footprint.
The new curtain-sided rail container with a raising roof, designed to transport double-stacked palletised products by rail, was displayed at the Multimodal Exhibition in Birmingham this week.
The design of the container overcomes an important barrier as the height of road trailers differs from rail containers due to the height constraints of the rail network, meaning transport by rail had not been a winning option for Nestlé until now.
Utilising a hydraulic raising roof mechanism, the unit allows the business to double-stack its food and drink products. The roof is then lowered to just above the height of the stock, making it compliant with the height requirements of rail transport, while being able to get more products on board.
It is currently under test between the Midlands and London.
The press release also mentions, that it could be used to deliver to Tesco, who are extensive users of rail freight and have been for some years.
The Anonymous Widower 