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Doctors newspaper online, 26.10.2019
Nutri Score
Germany also wants to introduce the Nutri score for food labeling from next year. In Europe, the colorful nutrition label has been on the triumphal march for some time.
By Detlef Drewes
What is healthy? Tested in EU countries, the Nutri-Score label aims to help consumers eat more balanced.
© Christophe Gateau
BRUSSELS. There are examples like this, which are often told in Brussels: On the first morning of her holiday in France, Johanna goes into a supermarché and discovers her favorite muesli on the shelf. But immediately she notices the colored code – and she is surprised that her cereal only gets the orange rating "D".
After the holidays, Johanna studies the German version of the food labeling of her cereal. She reads nutritional value tables. But how to interpret the numbers exactly, she is not clear. What is healthy now? What is balanced?
The Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband has written down this scene and advertises with it for the colored Nutri score. It is an invention of France, in which the National Agency for Public Health, Nutritionists, Food Industry Representatives and Consumer Protection Workers worked for almost 17 years before the 2018 logo was finally introduced. Surveys with our neighbors prove that this label performs best in terms of intelligibility.
Companies like
Just a few weeks after the official launch, Auchan, Intermarché, Leclerc and Fleury Michon have committed to introduce the system. "An easy-to-understand nutritional label is in line with Danone's strategy to help create healthier eating and drinking habits," said Richard Trechman, manager of yogurt giant Danone, explaining his company's commitment.
Many more companies have followed in the meantime. The Nutri score was an "important decision-making aid in the choice of food," emphasized Andreas Brosselmann, Quality Manager International at Bofrost.
In France in 2018, the first products entered the stores nationwide. Belgium followed in 2019. Spain and Portugal have decided to follow suit. Luxembourg and Switzerland are also determined to introduce the colorful labeling.
In Brussels, the project is sponsored by all means. Although there are weaknesses of the system, it says in the consumer protection department of the responsible European Commissioner Vera Jourova. But "the highest principle must be the intelligibility" is emphasized in the European Commission. There are obviously all agreed.
"The new labeling system must be understandable especially for the population groups affected by malnutrition and obesity," says Professor Berthold Koletzko, Chairman of the Nutrition Commission of the German Association for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Germany is still considering, the other Europeans are impressed to enthusiastic. Up to 94 percent of polls – also in the Federal Republic – favored this new form of labeling.
A good, easy to understand picture
The Nutri score is calculated on the basis of the nutritional information for every 100 grams or per 100 milliliters. The calculation includes on the one hand nutrients that may have negative effects on health: energy content, sugars, saturated fatty acids and salt (sodium).
On the other hand, properties of the products are taken into account, which can have a positive effect. For the different ingredients, there are points that give an overall rating. From this, the classification into the colored classes "A" (green) to "E" (red) is derived.
Of course that means a simplification, according to the National Public Health Agency in Paris. Not all ingredients like vitamins, minerals or unsaturated fatty acids would be evaluated. But for that the system is easy to understand for everyone and results – together with the list of ingredients – a good picture.
That the regionality of food, organic farming or genetically modified ingredients would not be included, however, is considered justifiable. Finally, there are organic and quality seals.
Skepticism not only in Germany
The skepticism that exists in Germany is also present in other EU states. Although the independent French-Belgian test organization Test Achat / Test Santé is fundamentally in favor of the nutritional color theory of the Nuri scores, it complains about the lack of consideration of additives such as sweeteners and dyes or preservatives.
However, in Belgium, too, the colorful scale is considered to be the best variant available to ensure rapid consumer information. "People read in the business no nutritional reports, which were printed anyway so small that they are hard to decipher," it says at the consumer advocates in our neighboring country.
The conclusion of the European discussion is therefore: The Nutri Score can not be beaten in terms of comprehensibility, even if it has weaknesses in detail. But they are acceptable, because many citizens would not perceive the endless imprints anyway. Manufacturers, in turn, are pushing for the widest possible uniform labeling in the light of the common market.
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