Have the large agri-food and distribution groups won the battle? Europe had included in its strategy Farm to fork (from farm to fork) in favor of more sustainable food the project to make the Nutri-Score compulsory, this logo affixed to packaging which provides information on the nutritional qualities of foods. All prerequisites have been met: a report from the European Food Safety Authority, a public consultation and a scientific opinion from the Joint Research Centre, the joint research center of the European Union, all in favor of this measure. However, no decision has been made, and observers fear that the project will go by the wayside.
If this is the case, France and the six other countries which have adopted the small five-color, five-letter logo could continue to recommend it, but would still not have the latitude to make it obligatory. Certainly, the Nutri-Score can be improved. Its algorithm has also been modified, and the new version will come into force in 2024. Thus, various aberrations will be corrected. A caricatured but frequently cited example, these chocolate breakfast cereals currently classified as A, like muesli, while they are much sweeter, should be downgraded to C or D. However, we should go much further, because the logo does not take into account the degree of food processing. So an “A” product because it is low in fat, sugar and salt can be ultra-processed and full of additives.
In view of the consistent epidemiological studies on the harmful effects on health of this category of foods, the nutritionists behind the Nutri-Score are now pleading for the logo to be supplemented by a black frame indicating these ultra-processed products. . The message, tested with consumers, seems to be well understood. This would be a minimum, to promote a good level of information on the real quality of the foods we eat. This will require an important step to be taken: the establishment, by regulatory authorities, of an official definition of ultra-processing. Given the lobbying carried out by the food industry in recent years against the Nutri-Score, these developments may take time to take hold. We can only regret it, because it is our health that is at stake.