Nestle says it is surprised about the backlash to a recipe change for its popular drink Milo.
Milo has been sold in Australia and New Zealand for over eighty years. Photo: 123rf
It said the new recipe had adjusted the vitamins and minerals, taken out the added vanilla flavour, and started using sustainably sourced cocoa and palm oil.
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Nestle external relations manager Margaret Stuart said the company was shocked by the negative reaction on social media.
A Facebook page calling for Nestle to revert to the old recipe has received more than 3000 'likes'.
"We're really quite surprised by the feeling, although at the same time we do have other consumers that are quite happy with it."
She said Milo was sold in dozens of countries and the vitamin change was happening globally because of research done into the nutritional needs of children.
Ms Stuart said the basic recipe for Milo had been used for over 80 years.
"Its main ingredients are malted barley, milk powder, sugar and cocoa. They are absolutely the heart and core of Milo."
She said she had not tasted the new recipe, but said she wanted to so she could get a better understanding of where customers were coming from.
"What we want to do is try and help those consumers to try and understand why we have made those changes, and hope that in time they come to like this product."
Wellington mother Taryn Ibell, who started the page, said she was prompted to act when her three-year-old daughter rejected the drink.
"My daughter was born early at 26 weeks and was tube fed for half her life, and Milo was the only way we could get her to drink milk.
"Now she won't even touch it. She won't go near it. She wants the other stuff but I can't give it to her."