The Nutri-Score is a system for labeling the nutritional quality of foods. It was developed in France and is displayed on the front of food packaging when manufacturing companies and brands have chosen to label their food products with it. This also means that subsequently all of the company’s products must be labeled and not just individual foods that are particularly valuable nutritionally, for example, are declared. The Nutri-Score is based on a scale from A to E, where A indicates the best nutritional quality and E the worst.
The Nutri-Score takes into account several factors, such as the amount of sugar, saturated fat, salt and calories in food. The system rates the quality of nutrients in a product and also considers the amount of fiber and protein.
The Nutri-Score is easy to understand because it uses a clear color scale. Green indicates good nutritional quality (A and B), yellow indicates medium nutritional quality (C) and red indicates poor nutritional quality (D and E).
The goal of the Nutri-Score is to help consumers quickly and easily choose healthier foods to improve their diets. As a supplement to nutritional tables and long ingredient lists, it thus creates orientation when shopping and making daily food choices. However, it is important to note and also inform consumers that the information is always in relation to other foods in the same product group. I.e. a frozen pizza with a Nutri-Score B does not equal healthy, but may be the better choice in relation to other frozen pizzas. In general, therefore, the Nutri-Score does not necessarily say whether a food is healthy or unhealthy, since generally only safe foods may be sold. Overall, the Nutri-Score is therefore somewhat simplified in its calculation and does not, for example, take into account all value-giving ingredients such as vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids or other additives such as flavors, flavor enhancers, sweeteners and the like. Likewise, regional origin, organic cultivation or freedom from genetic engineering are not taken into account in the evaluation. If these aspects are important to you, you should take an additional look at the list of ingredients, labels and seals. Another disadvantageous aspect is the voluntary nature of the use for companies. As a result, numerous products are still not declared, which makes it difficult to compare food groups.
Nevertheless, some companies are now using the Nutri-Score and can use it to improve their image, because they reflect to consumers that they take responsibility for ingredients and the health of customers and transparently present nutritional differences within a product group. In addition, the Nutri-Score is based on scientific evidence and, as described, enables valid nutritional comparisons of foods within a product group.
All in all, there are both advantages and disadvantages. A look at the Nutri-Score enables a quick decision-making aid for laypersons when shopping and can lead to a more health-conscious diet. Nevertheless, it is important to further educate and inform consumers that, for example, only product groups are compared with each other and that the labeling is voluntary so far. A look at the list of ingredients and the origin of the product can’t hurt in any case if you want to be absolutely sure.
If you would like to find out more about the Nutri-Score, you can visit the website of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).