Nestlé has been voted the least ethical company of the last 25 years by readers of Ethical Consumer.

The Swiss food company 'won' with 15% of the vote, finishing just above Monsanto (14%) and the UK's number one tax avoider Amazon (12%).

Nestlé is currently subject to the longest ever running consumer boycott. For over 20 years Baby Milk Action has called a boycott of the company for its irresponsible marketing of baby milk formula, which infringes the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. 

In recent years the company has also been criticised for its use of child labour and palm oil, and for not labelling GM ingredients. 

Ethical Consumer's Tim Hunt, who helped conduct the survey, said, “this is a really interesting result. It shows that people still feel strongly about Nestlé even after so many years and despite it trying to greenwash its image by using Fairtrade chocolate in some of its products.”

He added: “From baby milk to Kit Kats and across all its product lines, Nestlé's brands score just 1 out of 14 on our ethical rankings tables.” 

The top ten least ethical companies were: Nestlé; Monsanto; Amazon; Shell; Tesco; Barclays; Exxon; Wal Mart; Coca Cola; Primark

Further details at:

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/aboutus/ethicalconsumerat25/thebestandworstofthelast25years.aspx