Sporting a white baseball cap and white trainers, President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka marked World Diabetes Day in November by joining a walk in the capital city of Colombo, as he has for the past eight years.

This time, however, the country’s president did something unusual. During a speech, he brandished the distinctive green pack of Milo, a popular chocolate malt drink manufactured by Nestlé and aimed at children, demanding the world’s biggest food company reduce the product’s sugar content.

Mr Sirisena blamed excess sugar consumption as a key cause of diabetes in his country, affecting nearly one in 10 people out of a population of 21m. He accused Nestlé of having increased the sugar content in Milo and demanded the Swiss group reduce it to less than 5 per cent of total content or face legislative controls.