Will the Big 6 Lets Go Nutri-Score Implementation.
Will the Big 6 Lets Go Nutri-Score Implementation.
The high burden of diet-related non communicable diseases and obesity across the European Region as necessitated the call by WHO European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015-2020 for countries to develop and implement front-of-pack labelling (FOPL) systems that are easy-to-understand and provide additional interpretation of nutritional information to consumers, guiding citizens to healthier options and acting as an incentive for food operators to reformulate their products, has given way to Nutri-Colour and recently, Nutri-Score.
NutriScore is a FOPL system adopted by France Government, which has proving to have consistently show superiority compared to other, both for the general populace and for disadvantaged subgroups of the population, suffering from chronic conditions like diabetes.
Nutri-score system clearly stood out as the most consumer-friendly scheme in terms of consumer perception, objective understanding and the labels’ impact on the nutritional quality of purchases in a range of experimental and real-life designs, the format has proven to show greater efficiency according to independent research bodies and universities.
NutriScore is a simply straight forward labelling system that uses colour and selected alphabet codes to guide consumers at a glance on the nutritional value of food products
The NutriScore has five colours and alphabets ranging from green to red and A to E respectively. The selection of this label was based on numerous studies published in international peer-reviewed journals. Evidence from France and EU shows that this type of labelling will contribute to informing healthy choices, meeting growing consumer demands for information on healthier options and limiting the consumption of foods high in energy, saturated fats, sugar or salt, in the context of an overall improvement in the nutritional quality of diets.
France is the second country in the Region to move towards implementing colour-coded FOPL labelling systems for nutritional information after The United Kingdom traffic light labelling code, a system that uses red, amber and green to indicate levels of fat, salt and sugar contained in food products.
The adopted Nutri-Score system employs a nutrient profiling system, based on the UK Food Standards Agency model, and classifies foods and beverages according to five categories of nutritional quality, indicated via a colour scale ranging from Green (grade A) to red (grade E).
As good as the scheme is, some of the heavy weight in the industry, the biggest global agro-industrial conglomerates are refusing to adopt it as they push for another type of nutritional label
The "Big Six" namely – Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Unilever, PepsiCo and the consumer-advocate organization, trade group, which includes major manufacturers of breakfast cereals, candies and cookies, is of the opinion that a modified version of the British “traffic light” system should be adopted instead.
The participative database from Open Food Facts which makes it possible to know the nutritional composition of most food products, and the NutriScore classification even for those that do not provide this information indicated that corporations supporting the alternative label are those whose product portfolio contains foods high in fat, sugar or salt, all of which would be classified as lower nutritional quality in the NutriScore. Products in this category include sweetened beverages, chocolate, confectionery, biscuits, breakfast cereals, ice creams or salty snacks. For example, in the Mars corporation, 100% of foods in the Open Food Facts database are classified as orange or red; for Mondelez, 86% of the products; and 55% for Nestlé, 54% for Coca-Cola, 52% for Unilever and 46% for PepsiCo.
Will the use of an alternative label which is wildly perceived to lead to more consumer confusion prevails over what is comprehensively proven beyond doubt, to empowering the consumers in deciding food choices best fit for consumption with utmost transparency?
Source
The Conversation
The high burden of diet-related non communicable diseases and obesity across the European Region as necessitated the call by WHO European Food and Nutrition Action Plan 2015-2020 for countries to develop and implement front-of-pack labelling (FOPL) systems that are easy-to-understand and provide additional interpretation of nutritional information to consumers, guiding citizens to healthier options and acting as an incentive for food operators to reformulate their products, has given way to Nutri-Colour and recently, Nutri-Score.
NutriScore is a FOPL system adopted by France Government, which has proving to have consistently show superiority compared to other, both for the general populace and for disadvantaged subgroups of the population, suffering from chronic conditions like diabetes.
Nutri-score system clearly stood out as the most consumer-friendly scheme in terms of consumer perception, objective understanding and the labels’ impact on the nutritional quality of purchases in a range of experimental and real-life designs, the format has proven to show greater efficiency according to independent research bodies and universities.
NutriScore is a simply straight forward labelling system that uses colour and selected alphabet codes to guide consumers at a glance on the nutritional value of food products
The NutriScore has five colours and alphabets ranging from green to red and A to E respectively. The selection of this label was based on numerous studies published in international peer-reviewed journals. Evidence from France and EU shows that this type of labelling will contribute to informing healthy choices, meeting growing consumer demands for information on healthier options and limiting the consumption of foods high in energy, saturated fats, sugar or salt, in the context of an overall improvement in the nutritional quality of diets.
France is the second country in the Region to move towards implementing colour-coded FOPL labelling systems for nutritional information after The United Kingdom traffic light labelling code, a system that uses red, amber and green to indicate levels of fat, salt and sugar contained in food products.
The adopted Nutri-Score system employs a nutrient profiling system, based on the UK Food Standards Agency model, and classifies foods and beverages according to five categories of nutritional quality, indicated via a colour scale ranging from Green (grade A) to red (grade E).
As good as the scheme is, some of the heavy weight in the industry, the biggest global agro-industrial conglomerates are refusing to adopt it as they push for another type of nutritional label
The "Big Six" namely – Mars, Mondelez, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Unilever, PepsiCo and the consumer-advocate organization, trade group, which includes major manufacturers of breakfast cereals, candies and cookies, is of the opinion that a modified version of the British “traffic light” system should be adopted instead.
The participative database from Open Food Facts which makes it possible to know the nutritional composition of most food products, and the NutriScore classification even for those that do not provide this information indicated that corporations supporting the alternative label are those whose product portfolio contains foods high in fat, sugar or salt, all of which would be classified as lower nutritional quality in the NutriScore. Products in this category include sweetened beverages, chocolate, confectionery, biscuits, breakfast cereals, ice creams or salty snacks. For example, in the Mars corporation, 100% of foods in the Open Food Facts database are classified as orange or red; for Mondelez, 86% of the products; and 55% for Nestlé, 54% for Coca-Cola, 52% for Unilever and 46% for PepsiCo.
Will the use of an alternative label which is wildly perceived to lead to more consumer confusion prevails over what is comprehensively proven beyond doubt, to empowering the consumers in deciding food choices best fit for consumption with utmost transparency?
Source
The Conversation
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