Danone, the owner of Actimel yoghurts and Evian water, yesterday warned growth was slowing in emerging markets and cut its 2009 sales targets.

Danone is the first multinational food company to express concern that slowing emerging-market sales may hurt top-line growth. Other companies, including Unilever, Nestlé and PepsiCo, have remained optimistic about the outlook for emerging markets even as they deal with tougher markets in the US and Europe.