Dong Nai Department of Health speaks out about Milo milk advertisement

Documents that Dong Nai Department of Health has just sent to the Department of Food Safety ( Ministry of Health ) regarding advertising of Milo milk products. Photo: Hanh Dung

Pursuant to Official Dispatch No. 805/ATTP-NDTT dated April 22, 2025 of the Department of Food Safety on coordinating the handling of information related to advertising Nestlé Milo barley milk products, the Dong Nai Provincial Department of Health has directed the Food Safety and Hygiene Department, the Department of Health Inspectorate to coordinate with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Inspectorate, the Department of Press and Publication Management (Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism) to work with a representative of Nestlé Vietnam Co., Ltd. (Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Park, An Binh Ward, Bien Hoa City).

At the time of the meeting, the company presented two products "Nestlé Milo 3-in-1 Milk Barley Drink Supplement" (product self-declaration dated December 27, 2021) and "Nestlé Milo Barley Drink Supplement" (product self-declaration dated August 10, 2022) according to the official dispatch of the Department of Food Safety, which is not related to the use of information from the Institute of Nutrition on the product label.

The company confirms that it only uses information from the Institute of Nutrition on the product label “Nestlé Milo Barley Milk Supplement”; the company's other products do not use information from the Institute of Nutrition.

In addition, the company provided a confirmation document from the Institute of Nutrition (January 25, 2024) regarding research evaluating the effectiveness of the product combined with physicaleducation for primary school students, agreeing with the content: the product helps improve physical qualities after 3 months of use.

While waiting for instructions, the company has proactively stopped all advertisements related to the Institute of Nutrition on television, digital platforms, social networks, billboards, etc. At the same time, it has asked partners to stop posting related content and is planning to change the packaging, expected to launch in September 2025.

At the time of the meeting, the representative of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that through the review from the beginning of 2025 until now, they have received an advertisement file on a banner for the product "Nestle's Milo Barley Milk" with the content "Milo with A2 cool milk, buy now for your baby" of CPM Vietnam Joint Stock Company (address: 12th floor, No. 60, Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Da Kao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City). In January 2025, the Inspector of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism inspected and handled a large wall-mounted billboard with the content "Milo is more durable", with the phrase "clinically tested by the Institute of Nutrition" due to not notifying the authorities about the advertising content.

The working group requested the Company to review the implementation of advertising product notification in accordance with legal regulations, paying attention to the signing of contracts with partner companies performing advertising.

The delegation requested the company to report in writing the process since self-declaring the product "Nestlé Milo Barley Milk Supplement" before May 22, 2025.

Deputy Director of the Department of Health Vo Thi Ngoc Lam emphasized that the Department of Health of Dong Nai province is continuing to coordinate with relevant agencies to inspect and verify related contents according to regulations.

Hanh Dung

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/y-te/202505/so-y-te-dong-nai-len-tieng-xung-quanh-quang-cao-sua-milo-3ff7ec1/