Nutri-Score Front-of-Pack Label Rates Highly in EU Countries

If you’re a food business operating in or supplying to the European Union, you could be missing out on a key ingredient in your sales and marketing strategy to consumers.

Since 2017, the Nutri-Score front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition label has been gaining momentum across EU member states as the preferred ‘healthy choice’ food brands comparison label for consumers. Just this year, two more countries – the Netherlands in January and Portugal in April – officially adopted Nutri-Score, although in the Netherlands it has unofficially been appearing on shelves since 2019.

Lead the (front of) pack

From the perspective of food manufacturers and supermarkets, research – such as a French survey undertaken by Oqali for Santé Publique France, the creators of Nutri-Score – has shown that consumers in countries who’ve adopted Nutri-Score are often more likely to choose products carrying its label over those without. This is understandable as it enables busy shoppers to quickly and easily compare the nutrition quality of different brands on the shelves at the point of purchase. In addition, it encourages trust in these brands due to their commitment to customers’ health.

So why has Nutri-Score become the EU’s most popular and widely recognised front-of-pack nutrition label?

Santé Publique France, the French public health agency, created Nutri-Score in 2017. Similar to the UK Food Standards Agency’s nutrient profiling system used for its ‘traffic lights’ FOP label, with Nutri-Score each food type is awarded a points score based on its nutrition quality.

What’s the score then?

Products are scored from -15 for the healthiest to +40 for the unhealthiest, based on a range of nutrition factors. Points are added for ‘bad’ nutrients (energy, saturates, sugars, and sodium), and deducted for ‘good’ nutrients (fibre and protein). In addition, points are deducted for high levels of the total amount of fruit, nuts, seeds, vegetables, pulses, and some oils present.

Depending on the product’s score, like the UK FOP label it will achieve a ‘traffic light’ colour, plus a letter rating between A to E, with A (green) being most healthy, and E (red) being most unhealthy in terms of its nutrition quality.

For products with an A rating, or a rating better than their competitors’ products, this can be a major selling point differentiator at the point of purchase – and with obesity rates steadily rising across Europe, there is growing pressure on governments to implement food labelling strategies such as Nutri-Score, to help their citizens make more healthy food choices.

Who’s sold on it?

Currently Nutri-Score is a voluntary FOP label officially approved by governments for use on foods and beverages sold in their EU member states. To date it has been adopted by France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, and Portugal – plus Switzerland outside of the EU.

According to Open Food Facts, a worldwide food products database freely available to consumers, there are currently 2,559 food & beverage brands and supermarket retail chains carrying the Nutri-Score label in France; 527 in Belgium; 144 in Luxembourg; 1,887 in Germany; 406 in Spain; and 432 in Switzerland.

In addition, such is its recognised competitive advantage on the shelf, that some food companies and supermarkets in other European countries – including Slovenia, Austria and Ukraine – have adopted Nutri-Score even without it being officially recommended by their governments.

It’s therefore not surprising that many European countries are in favour of Nutri-Score being selected as the mandatory single EU-wide FOP nutrition label.

If you’re a food business interested in harnessing Nutri-Score to your competitive advantage on products, you will need to register your business free of charge with the body operating the scheme, Santé Publique France. Once registered, you will need to display the Nutri-Score label on all your products within 24 months.

Know the score and be highly rated

In addition, you will need to calculate and output the Nutri-Score for each of your products as the official label format.

TraceGains NutriCalc’s nutrition calculation software provides a cost-effective, easy and instant solution to obtaining Nutri-Score labels, as well as providing fully current and compliant nutrition information and labels for all EU countries / the UK.

TraceGains NutriCalc is an indispensable tool for teams pursuing an improved Nutri-Score for key products. All ingredients can be checked for their ‘bad’ and ‘good’ nutrients, then substituted for alternatives to see the resulting impact on their Nutri-Score.

NutriCalc is available as a standalone* solution, or as part of TraceGains’ Networked Product Development Suite, fully integrated with TraceGains’ trusted solutions for Formula and Specification Management.

*Nutri-Score reports and labels are available as part of standalone NutriCalc’s Premium plan, designed for businesses located in or exporting to EU countries. It’s also available for businesses located in the USA who are exporting to EU countries.