Chinese consumer, Eileen Zhu Yanling, is suing Nestle for not labelling Nesquik to indicate inclusion of GE ingredients in China under consumer rights law.
Zhu's shock turned to anger as the thought of unknowingly
feeding her son GE food preyed on her mind and she decided to sue
the company for violation of her consumer rights. Zhu wrote to
Nestlé headquarters in September last year about inconsistencies in
their labelling policy but was not satisfied with their reply.
Zhu's anger was compounded by her previous trust in Nestlé's
products. Nestlé was one of the first foreign food companies to
become established in China and Zhu grew up with Nestlé products.
She had also studied in Switzerland and was even taken on a tour of
Nestlé's Vevey headquarters by a friend. Zhu is aware of the strict
GE labelling regulations in Europe and feels very strongly that
large global companies like Nestlé, irrespective of national
variances in these regulations, should give the same information
about ingredients to consumers whether they're in Europe or
China.
"I am angry because Nestlé has not been truthful. This is
disrespectful to Chinese consumers. I believe Chinese consumers
have the right to know and to choose what they are buying for their
families", said Zhu in a letter she delivered personally on her
visit to Nestlé's Swiss headquarters on 16th December last
year.
In June 2003, Shanghai 2 People's Intermediate court accepted
Zhu's case and in August, with Nestlé China's agreement, the court
commissioned a laboratory to test Nesquik for the presence of GE
ingredients. The test was positive and was accepted as evidence by
the court. Nestlé subsequently commissioned another laboratory
independently without notifying the court. The results this time
were predictably negative. The court has refused to accept the
results of the second test as evidence. The date for the court
hearing has yet to be set. Zhu is demanding compensation of 13.6
yuan (about US$ 1.6) - twice the price of the product.
Greenpeace has been campaigning globally to eradicate GE
ingredients from food products for many years. Many food products
already contain GE ingredients, so until these can be phased out
and replaced by natural ingredients we have been pushing for those
products containing GE to be labelled so that consumers can make an
informed choice.
We heard about Eileen Zhu Yanling's case in September and
committed to helping her take her concerns directly to Nestlé´s top
management on December 16th last year. At the meeting a Nestlé
representative told Zhu that they would continue to sell GE
products worldwide with the exception of Europe where consumer
rejection is strong. Nestlé's response has only strengthened her
resolve to continue her fight. "I am very disappointed by Nestlé's
response. I have travelled to Switzerland to tell them the concerns
of Chinese consumers, but Nestlé does not seem to care." Zhu said
after the meeting.
The meeting was conducted after Zhu gave a press conference in
Lausanne. She demanded that Nestlé adopt the same policy in China
as in European countries and eliminate GE ingredients from its
products. She is also calling on the company to respect consumers'
rights to an informed choice by properly labelling its GE products
during the process of phasing out GMOs. Nestlé rejected both
demands during her meeting.
"My demands were met with outright rejection. Nestlé is
unconvinced that Chinese consumers are as concerned as European
consumers on food safety and consumer rights. I will continue my
fight and I will also ask more Chinese consumers to support me.
Only a concerted voice from Chinese consumers will make their
voices heard by Nestlé," said Zhu.
Zhu's battle against Nestlé has been receiving blanket coverage
in all of China's main media markets and was also well covered in
Switzerland. Many Chinese consumers are very well aware of Zhu's
fight against Nestlé with many of them venting their anger on
China's leading internet sites. This is clearly a story that Nestlé
wish would go away but interest in the case continued at a press
conference held in Shanghai today with over 30 media in attendance,
including Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Eileen Zhu Yanling is a very impressive character and we are
sure that she will eventually get a satisfactory response from
Nestlé. She does not see herself as a 'consumer champion', "As a
member of society I have a duty to promote individual rights within
China's business environment. The rules for business practice must
be fair to everybody".
Since March last year, Zhu has consciously avoided buying Nestlé
products, whenever there is a choice so if Nestlé want to maintain
a stake in the huge Chinese market we strongly advise them to
listen to Zhu and the many Chinese consumers rallying behind
her.
Zhu´s case, the first of its kind in China, exemplifies the
growing concern about food safety and consumer rights among urban
Chinese consumers. On 6th December 2002, Greenpeace released news
about Nestlé selling unlabelled GE products in China. Within two
days, more than 5000 people cast their vote on www.sina.com.cn, one of China's
most popular websites, to denounce Nestlé's double standards. Many
angry Chinese consumers followed up their virtual action with real
action - newspapers reported that products were being returned to
Nestlé's offices.
On the apparent double standards that Nestlé seems to be
applying to its operations in different parts of the world, and
their claim that loopholes in labelling regulations in the
'developing' world are not their fault, Zhu has this to say;
"Nestle and other large companies should help develop rules, not
exploit them [if they want consumers to continue buying their
products]".
Eileen Zhu Yanling is ready to regain her trust in Nestlé if her
demands are met with action and thinks that they could be a model
company in China if they respect consumer rights. She is willing,
along with other consumers, to work closely with companies to try
and affect change and to realise their corporate
responsibility.
"I am making these demands because there are millions of mothers
in the world who trust Nestlé to provide their kids with nutritious
food. Please do not abuse the trust of these mothers and their
children!"
More news:
Shanghai consumer flies to Nestle for the right to know -
People's Daily, 18 Dec 2003.
Food companies go GE-Free in China 18 July 2003.
The ingredients are hidden, but the companies can't hide 17
January 2003.