2023-04-25 09:08:30
The method of calculating the Nutri-Score, the nutritional labeling imposed in Luxembourg and other European countries, will change from the end of 2023 to better take into account knowledge about food and health.
“This new algorithm will strengthen the effectiveness of the Nutri-Score to classify foods and beverages in line with the main dietary recommendations of European countries”, declared in a joint press release the health or agri-food authorities of several countries, including France and Germany.
The Nutri-Score is a labeling system that aims to inform the consumer about the health benefits or disadvantages of foods on sale in stores.
With its dots ranging from green to red with the letters from A to E, this system is in force in six European countries: Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
However, it has not been extended to the whole of the European Union in the face, in particular, of lobbying from countries, such as Italy, anxious to defend the interests of their agri-food sector.
Even among its promoters, the Nutri-Score, launched in 2017, has been the subject of criticism which, without calling into question its validity, relates to the obsolete or unsuitable nature of some of its recommendations.
It is with this in mind that those responsible for Nutri-score have revised, in two stages, its calculation algorithm.
After a first step last year on solid foods -poultry will thus be better classified than red meats-, the steering committee has just completed its work on the beverages component.
This update will, for example, less readily recommend drinks containing sweeteners – such as Diet Coke -, noting that recent studies do not show a crucial advantage over conventional sugars.
From now on, the six countries concerned must introduce these changes in their regulations.
“The countries have agreed on a coordinated implementation of the new algorithm (…) by the end of 2023”, specifies the press release.
The companies concerned will then have two years to adapt their labeling.
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