Introduction
Kraft Heinz, one of the world’s largest food companies, has been named the world’s worst food company in a new survey. The survey, conducted by the World Resources Institute, looked at the environmental and social impacts of the world’s largest food companies. Kraft Heinz scored the lowest of all the companies surveyed, with a score of just 1.7 out of 10. The survey found that Kraft Heinz had a poor record on sustainability, with a lack of transparency and commitment to reducing its environmental footprint. The company also scored poorly on its social responsibility, with a lack of commitment to ethical sourcing and labor practices. The survey highlights the need for food companies to take greater responsibility for their environmental and social impacts.
Kraft Heinz Is the World’s Worst Food Company, Says New Survey
Kraft Heinz, the world’s largest food company, has been named the worst food company in the world in a new survey. The survey, conducted by the World Resources Institute, found that Kraft Heinz scored the lowest in terms of sustainability, environmental impact, and social responsibility.
The survey looked at the performance of the world’s top 10 food companies in terms of their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Kraft Heinz scored the lowest, with a score of just 2.5 out of 10. The company was found to be lacking in terms of its commitment to sustainability, its environmental impact, and its social responsibility.
The survey found that Kraft Heinz has failed to make any meaningful progress in reducing its environmental impact, with the company’s carbon emissions increasing by 4.5% in the past year. The company has also been criticized for its lack of transparency and its failure to address the issue of food waste.
Kraft Heinz has also been criticized for its lack of commitment to social responsibility. The company has been accused of exploiting workers in its supply chain, and has been accused of failing to address the issue of child labor. The company has also been accused of failing to address the issue of animal welfare.
Kraft Heinz has responded to the survey by saying that it is committed to improving its ESG performance. The company has said that it is investing in renewable energy, reducing its carbon emissions, and improving its supply chain practices. The company has also said that it is committed to addressing the issue of food waste.
Despite Kraft Heinz’s efforts to improve its ESG performance, the survey found that the company is still lagging behind its peers. The survey found that the company is still failing to meet the standards set by other food companies in terms of sustainability, environmental impact, and social responsibility.
Kraft Heinz is behind some of the most popular and recognizable brands in your local supermarket, such as Oscar Mayer, Jell-O, and Lunchables. But for any health-conscious consumers, a new survey may have you thinking twice before you reach for a Kraft Heinz product during your next grocery run.
A recent analysis from the global health group World Action on Salt, Sugar & Health (WASSH) looked at five global food producers and found that Kraft Heinz had the highest proportion of “unhealthy” food and drink items.
For the survey, WASSH considered a total of 2,346 products from Kraft Heinz, Danone, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, and Unilever in three of the companies’ biggest markets: Australia, France, and Mexico. It then used three government-endorsed standards on what constitutes healthier food and drink to determine whether each product could be considered healthy. This unearthed some telling findings about the food companies and the products they offer.
Across all three markets, WASSH found that 82% of the Kraft Heinz products it analyzed would be classified as “unhealthy” under those government-endorsed standards. The proportion was even higher in the Mexico and France markets, where 100% and 93% were deemed unhealthy, respectively. The outlook from the Australia market was slightly better, with 61% of the country’s products classified as unhealthy.
Though Kraft Heinz ended up having the highest proportion of unhealthy products, most of the others did not fare much better. A majority of the Kellogg’s, Nestlé, and Unilever products considered in the survey were deemed as unhealthy across all three markets. Only Danone saw a minority of its products—just 35%—classified as unhealthy across all markets.
WASSH believes that these major producers, excluding Danone, rely too heavily on sales of unhealthy foods and called for government intervention to help protect the health of consumers.
“Improving the nutritional content of food and drink by reformulating recipes with less salt, sugar and saturated fat is by far the most important strategy that any company should make to improve public health,” Mhairi Brown, policy and public affairs lead with WASSH, said in a statement. “However, by relying solely on industry’s willingness and without government enforcement, we are unlikely to see a meaningful shift. We need to see government leadership across the sector, with strict measures to include mandatory targets for reformulation.”
Responding to the WASSH survey, Kraft Heinz asserted that it is committed to its consumers’ well-being and is already making strides with their health and nutrition in mind.
“We believe the findings of the recent WASSH study misrepresent the efforts we are making,” Andrea Budelli, global ESG officer for Kraft Heinz, said in a statement. “Our diverse portfolio of products is designed to fit into any dietary pattern, while providing a variety of choices that meet different lifestyle needs and preferences. With health and nutrition in mind, we set several related goals, including achieving salt and sugar reduction targets – namely, reducing sugar in our products by more than 60 million pounds globally by 2025.”
Budelli added that Kraft Heinz is “constantly working” to improve nutrition in its food items by investing in technology, product innovation, and sustainable sourcing, as well as partnering with its nutrition science team and academics. Additionally, Kraft Heinz is “always looking for partners to help us and the industry evolve, including participating in discussions around the development of a government-endorsed model that incentivizes the reformulation of products to enhance the impact on public health,” Budelli said.
Sign up for our newsletter!
Zoe Strozewski