The world`s biggest food company Nestle said on Tuesday it was withdrawing from the United States a Brazil-manufactured milk cereal product that may contain traces of a pesticide not approved for the product in the US.

GENEVA, Oct 23, 2008 (AFP) - Global food giant Nestle on Thursday said nine-month sales rose 3.4 percent over the same period last year to 81.4 billion francs (69.77 billion dollars, 54.62 billion euros), leading it to hike its outlook for the full year.

GENEVA, Oct 23, 2008 (AFP) - Global food giant Nestle on Thursday said nine-month sales soared to 81.4 billion francs (69.77 billion dollars, 54.62 billion euros), leading it to hike its outlook for the full year.

The growth was 8.9 percent in organic growth terms which excludes effects from acquisitions and currency fluctuations.

TAIPEI, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Taiwan's health minister said Thursday six Nestle milk products found tainted with melamine were banned from sale.

'The products from (the Chinese province of) Heilongjiang were tested for very low levels of melamine and removed from the shelves,' said health minister Yeh Ching-chuan.

TAIPEI, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Taiwan's health minister said Thursday that six Nestle milk products were banned from sale after they were found to be tainted with melamine.

'The products from (the Chinese province of) Heilongjiang tested positive for very low levels of melamine and (were) removed from the shelves,' said the minister, Yeh Ching-chuan.

GENEVA, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle criticised on Thursday Taiwanese authorities' demand for it to delist milk products which the government itself had deemed safe for consumption.

Earlier Thursday, Taiwan's health minister said that six Nestle milk products were banned from sale after they were found to be tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.

GENEVA, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Global food giant Nestle on Thursday fought back against a Taiwanese move to ban its milk products, questioning why products deemed safe for consumption had to be taken off the shelves.

TAIPEI, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - Taiwan's health minister said Thursday six Nestle milk products were banned from sale after they were found to contain melamine.

'The products from (the Chinese province of) Heilongjiang tested positive for very low levels of melamine and (were) removed from the shelves,' said the minister, Yeh Ching-chuan.

GENEVA, Sept 21, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle on Sunday said it was 'confident' that its products in China were safe, after media reports suggested that its products were laced with a chemical that killed four babies in China.

ROTTERDAM, September 4, 2008 (AFP) - Anglo-Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever said Thursday that chief executive Patrick Cescau will step down at the end of this year and be replaced by top Nestle manager Paul Polman.

Polman, 52 and a Dutch national, is currently executive vice president at Swiss peer Nestle.

VEVEY, August 7, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle said Thursday net profit had risen 6.1 percent in the first half of the year to 5.2 billion Swiss francs (3.2 billion euros, 4.9 billion dollars).

GENEVA, July 23, 2008 (AFP) - Libya has shut the local offices of Swiss food group Nestle and engineering firm ABB and detained officials of both following the arrest in Switzerland of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son, reports said Wednesday.

ZURICH, April 21, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle on Monday confirmed its full year growth forecast after sales in the first quarter rose 6.0 percent to 25.7 billion Swiss francs (16 billion euros).

GENEVA, April 7, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis boosted its healthcare portfolio on Monday by buying a quarter of eye unit unit Alcon from food giant Nestle for about 11 billion dollars (7.02 billion euros) in cash with an option to buy another 52 percent.

GENEVA, April 7, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle said on Monday that it had agreed to sell about a quarter of its eye-care unit Alcon to Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis for about 11 billion dollars (7.02 billion euros) in cash.

Novartis will acquire about 24.85 percent of Alcon's issued and outstanding capital in the deal.

ZURICH, March 23, 2008 (AFP) - Growing use of such crops wheat and corn to make biofuels is putting world food supplies in peril, the head of Nestle, the world's biggest food and beverage company, warned Sunday.

ZURICH, March 12, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle said Wednesday it had withdrawn 250 shipments of baby milk powder from South Africa, Botswana and Zambia due to defects in the mixture.

The problem batch of Lactogen 1, produced in South Africa and sold in the three Southern African states, had been found to contain overly high amounts of zinc, copper and iron.

VEVEY, Switzerland, Feb 21, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle posted Thursday 2007 results ahead of analyst forecasts as the company benefited, in difficult circumstances, from a strategic move into new business areas.

VEVEY, Switzerland, Feb 21, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle announced Thursday 2007 results that beat analyst forecasts as the company benefited, in difficult circumstances, from a strategic move into new business areas.

VEVEY, Switzerland, Feb 21, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle said Thursday its net profit rose 15.8 percent last year to 10.65 billion Swiss francs (9.7 billion dollars/6.6 billion euros), with growth expected in 2008.

Sales grew by 9.2 percent in 2007 to 107.6 billion Swiss francs, Nestle said in a statement.

CARACAS, Feb 10, 2008 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday warned Venezuela could expropriate milk processing plants based here and owned by Italy's Parmalat and Swiss-owned Nestle.

ZURICH, Nov 26, 2007 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle said Monday it had bought Russian chocolate maker Ruzskaya Confectionary Factory (RKF) for an undisclosed sum.

VEVEY, Switzerland, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The Swiss food group Nestle said Thursday that growing raw material costs were having an impact on its growth, as it posted a nine percent increase in sales over the first nine months of the year.

Nestle said in a statement that 'input cost pressures were increasing over the second half of the year' and having a 'dampening effect' on real internal growth.

However, the company maintained its recently revised targets for better-than-expected growth this year.

GENEVA, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The Swiss food group Nestle said Thursday that growing raw material costs were having an impact on its growth, as it posted a nine percent increase in sales over the first nine months of the year.

Nestle said in a statement that 'input cost pressures were increasing over the second half of the year' and having a 'dampening effect' on real internal growth.

GENEVA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - The Swiss food giant Nestle said Thursday that its Americas chief, Paul Bulcke, a long-standing company executive, has been nominated to replace chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as chief executive next April.

Nestle said in a statement that Bulcke's nomination by the board of directors will be put to shareholders at the group's next annual general meeting on April 10, 2008.

'Nestle's Board confirmed that Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe will serve as active, non-executive, Chairman of the Board,' the statement said.

GENEVA, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - The Swiss food giant Nestle said Thursday that the head of its Americas zone, Paul Bulcke, has been nominated to replace chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe as chief executive next April.

Nestle said in a statement that Bulcke's nomination by the board of directors will be put to shareholders at the group's next annual general meeting on April 10, 2008.

'Nestle's Board confirmed that Mr. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe will serve as active, non-executive, Chairman of the Board,' the statement said.

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - A second bomb in as many days targetting an executive of Swiss Giant Nestle exploded Thursday in a Buenos Aires suburb, breaking windows in his ex-wife's home but not injuring anyone, police said.

The explosion occurred in front of the home occupied by the former wife and two children of Nestle technology executive Christian Antonello.

On Wednesday a letter bomb addressed to Antonello, 33, seriously wounded another executive who opened the package at the firm's base near the Argentine capital.

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 5, 2007 (AFP) - An executive of the multinational food giant Nestle was seriously wounded when a letter bomb exploded in his hands at the firm's base near the Argentine capital Wednesday, police said.

Cosme Veneziale, 48, a manager in the firm's technical department at the office north of Buenos Aires, was hospitalized by the explosion, triggered when he tried to open a package that had been mailed to him containing a book.

VEVEY, Switzerland, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Swiss food giant Nestle said on Monday that it had completed its 5.5 billion dollar (4.1 billion euros) takeover of Gerber, the biggest baby food maker in the United States.

The move, which took effect on September 1, followed successful conclusion of regulatory approval, Nestle said in a statement.

GENEVA, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) - The Swiss-based food giant Nestle on Wednesday reported an 18.7 percent increase in half year net profits to 4.92 billion Swiss francs (3.0 billion euros, 4.08 billion dollars) prompting it to raise its growth target for the full year.

Nestle said in a statement that sales had increased by 8.4 percent in the firts six months of the year to 51.11 billion Swiss francs.

Operating earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) grew by 14.2 percent to 6.92 billion Swiss francs, it added.

BRUSSELS, July 27, 2007 (AFP) - The European Union's top regulator approved on Friday Swiss food giant Nestle's takeover of Gerber, the biggest baby food maker in the United States.

The regulator, the European Commission, said it a statement that it had 'concluded that the operation would not significantly impede effective competition' in Europe.

Nestle announced in April that it had agreed to buy Gerber for 5.5 billion dollars (4.1 billion euros) in a deal that extends its global empire.