11 April, 2017

The Nutriscore food label is the one chosen by France

The Nutriscore food label, the best considered by France for its products.

Following the development of an experiment on which labels to use for product labels, France has decided that the official label to identify healthy foods is through the NutriScore format. It is a label that is based on the coding by five colors and letters.

France has considered this format as the best because consumers are informed quickly of nutritional quality. Thus, the task of choosing the most suitable foods for a healthy and balanced diet is facilitated.

With this system, consumers are advised how often they should eat certain products. It associates colors and descriptive issues such as “very often”,”often”, “moderately”, “regularly in small quantities”, or “occasionally in small quantities”.

France considers after analyzing multiple criteria and approaches that have been systematically explored, that NutriScore has a clear advantage over the rest of the formats, especially in the segment of consumers looking to save in the shopping cart by purchasing economical products. It has been found that NutriScore has a great impact on the buying behavior of consumers, as it quickly informs them about the healthy nature of the products, being able to make purchases with more information.

The food industry, on the other hand, preferred the system that is based on the recommended daily amounts and not on colors. The FoodDrinkEurope (FDE), an organization that represents the interests of the food industry in the European Union, comments that it regrets the inclusion of this food label as it hinders the free movement of goods in the single market.

This organization considers that the discussion on an information labeling model must be in consensus with all the affected agents in the European Union. This type of national initiatives further hinders the food market.  

After presenting the results of the experiment, the Minister of Health will approve the Decree Law so that manufacturers can start using this new food label from April.

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