You can take Milo, but not too much

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has advised those who drink Milo to do so moderately.

“Anything in moderation is fine, but taking sugar in excess from any source is bad,” said the association’s president, Ravindra R Naidu.

He told FMT consumers should treat Milo the same way they would treat other beverages and snacks said to contain high amounts of sugar.

“Not just Milo, but soft drinks, cakes and other types of food need to be consumed in small quantities,” he said.

He was commenting on a video claiming that Milo contains an excessive amount of sugar. The video, which quickly spread across the internet, was made by a businessman by the name of Vishen Lakhiani.

Lakhiani pointed out that the Milo packaging says there are 40g of sugar in a 100g serving of the chocolate drink. He apparently made the video after reading a New York Times article about multinational processed food companies and their relationship with Malaysian nutritionists who are known to influence policy.

Nestlé has since denied that Milo is “too sweet”, saying sugar would make up only 6% of a serving prepared as recommended.

“Out of this 6%, 3% is natural sugar (from milk and malt) and 3% is added sugar,” Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad nutritionist Nurul Iliani Ahmad said in a statement.

Nurul said that the 40% sugar content shown on the label refers to Milo powder before water is added. -FMT