Nestlé has joined hands with millions of persons to celebrate the benefits of milk for a healthy living on this year’s International Milk Day, a day set aside to highlight the important role and contribution of dairy farmers and to raise awareness about the goodness of milk.
In line with the company’s purpose of “enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future”, Nestlé is helping individuals and families live healthier and happier lives. Milk is considered an essential part of a healthy diet and forms the foundation for health in many cultures as it is a good source of high-quality protein, calcium, and other essential nutrients needed for a healthy growth, even beyond childhood.
Nestlé in Central and West Africa supports governments’ efforts to improve nutrition, notably by way of public education and providing affordable nutritious food and beverages, such as milk. On 1st June 2018, Nestlé-Ghana organized a media workshop on the importance milk plays in maintaining health and wellbeing. The event aimed to empower journalists to educate the public on healthier diet choices by sharing expertise from a range of national nutrition experts such as Dr. Nii Lante Amissah, Lecturer at the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences of the University of Ghana who shed more light on the importance of milk for all stages of life.
Speaking at the workshop, Managing Director for Nestlé-Ghana, Mrs. Freda Duplan said: “as we celebrate World Milk Day, I reaffirm Nestlé’s commitment to address undernutrition through micronutrient fortification and our ambition to help 50 million children lead healthier lives by 2030”.
Over the course of life, inadequate intake of nutrients, such as calcium, leads to weakening the bones, thus increasing the risk of fractures later in life, particularly in women. Regular consumption of dairy products, including milk, can help prevent diseases such as osteoporosis.
Moreover, many adults avoid milk due to concern about fat content or inconvenient effects of lactose intolerance.
However, there are many ways to mitigate these effects and still benefit from the nutritional benefits of dairy. Recent research has shown that children and adults with lactose intolerance can build up tolerance over time by regularly introducing small amounts of milk, which can slowly change their intestinal bacteria and make lactose easier to digest.
Milk is naturally rich in calcium and a good carrier of micronutrient fortification, making it viable, in the long-term, as way to deliver more nutrition to large segments of the population.
Nestlé’s range of milk brands are developed to offer good nutrition, especially micronutrients needed by growing children. To make these nutritious products accessible to the widest number of families possible, Nestlé makes these milks available in affordable formats. They are also fortified with Iron, vitamin A and other micronutrients to contribute to filling the micronutrient gap in people’s diet. “Today our affordable fortified milks are present in the region, making a positive difference in the lives of children around the world. In Central & West Africa, Nestlé sold 810 million servings of fortified milk in 2017”, Russell Lipchin, Business Executive Office for Dairy at Nestlé Central & West Africa said.