Nestlé to Start Producing Herbal Remedies…With Big Pharma?

Natural treatments—including Chinese herbal remedies—is gaining ground in both mainstream media and medicine. With the help of the Food and Drug Administration, Big Pharma is fighting the trend tooth and nail. But Nestlé is taking another approach.

Nestlé will join hands with Chi-Med to form a new group, Nutrition Science Partners (NSP) to research and produce herbal remedies. Their first target is gastro-intestinal wellbeing but could extend to even brain and metabolic health.

“Botanicals are the forefront in our view in the search for new medicines,” said the Chi-Med chief.

Nestlé seems to be stretching their fingers into various types of trendy pies. This is illustrated in their two-sided approach to genetically modified ingredients in their foods, something not tolerated in Europe but financially backed in North America.

Nestlé is No Friend to Consumers

Perhaps we should be elated that a mainstream corporation seemingly with every capitalist country under its giant thumb is venturing into alternative medicine. Perhaps we should be horrified, because although the Swiss branch of Nestlé advocates minimizing their water footprint and educating farmers, the American branch doesn’t exactly have the consumer in mind.

“We have a very simple way of looking at GM,” said Hans Jöhr, corporate head of sustainable agriculture back in September, “listen to what the consumer wants. If they don’t want it in their products, you don’t put it in them.”

Of course Americans don’t want GMOs. That’s why there are so many real grassroots anti-GMO organizations speaking out against likes of Monsanto, Coca Cola, and, you guessed it, Nestlé. But Nestlé thinks Americans actually want GMOs. As if multi-billion-dollar behemoths are pushing organ-disrupting, pesticide-riddled food on a population drinking contaminated water because people are asking for it. Yeah right.

Putting sarcasm aside, I might add that Mark Mellman of The Hill reports that “voters express almost unanimous support for mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods.” That Prop 37 supposedly went in favor of Monsanto and friends (after the latter misused federal seals and fabricated phony front groups to advocate GMOs) then seems unreal.

Nestlé’s Idea of Natural Remedies

Since it’s clear Nestlé has little interest in what people are vociferously clamoring for if ignoring them means a fatter paycheck, one wonders how they will approach NSP. With the same derision for human and environmental health as seen in the battle over GMOs? Will we see costly fillers, additives, and mercury in our high fructose corn syrup-laden tinctures and pills?

Our hopes aren’t high.