By Richa Naidu

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Packaged food provides safe, quality nutrition for people and reduces waste, Nestle's NESN.S CEO said on Thursday, defending his company's products when asked how he would navigate incoming U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s criticism of packaged food.

The U.S. Senate advanced President Donald Trump's nomination of Kennedy to head the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, setting up a likely vote on awarding him the position in coming days.

If confirmed, as expected, by the Republican-controlled Senate, Kennedy, 71, would head the nation's top health agency that oversees agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During his own presidential campaign, Kennedy said he wanted to "Make America Healthy Again" and called out Kellogg's Fruit Loops cereal in an interview in November.

Nestle is the world's biggest packaged foods group with products ranging from KitKat snacks and Nescafe coffee to Maggi noodles and Purina pet foods.

"The US is very, very important to us, and we are monitoring the situation," CEO Laurent Freixe said when asked if anyone at Nestle had spoken recently with Kennedy.

"Packaged foods are very, very important for mankind," he added. "They have brought safe foods to many. They preserve the quality of the food. They allow us to fight food waste."

Freixe, who was speaking after the company reported slightly better-than-forecast annual sales growth, said food insecurity and food-borne diseases would be more prevalent than they are today if not for packaged food.

He noted, however, that Nestle shared Kennedy's focus on nutrition and health.

"This is our goal as well. We are all for good diets, diverse diets and nutrient-rich diets," Freixe said.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

((richa.naidu@tr.com; Follow me on BlueSky @richanaidu.bsky.social; +44 755 755 9587;))