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NutriScore recognition has 'surged' across France

The number of consumers engaging with Europe's front-of-pack nutrient profiling system, NutriScore, is on the rise across France – the first country to scale voluntary use, finds NielsenIQ research.

Consumer intelligence firm NielsenIQ has shared findings from French research showing that NutriScore is now the second most-recognised food label on the market, with 63% of French consumers saying they pay attention to NutriScore when purchasing food. This is just behind 64% looking for Label Rouge on products, a voluntary scheme indicative of quality assurance, which has been in place for more than 60 years. NutriScore, by comparison, was introduced onto the French market just nine years ago, in 2017.

Professor Serge Hercberg, part of the team behind NutriScore and Professor Emeritus at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, France, said the findings are encouraging. “It is a very high level of awareness for a label,” Hercberg told Ingredients Network.

What is “most striking” about the findings, he said, is the evolution of NutriScore awareness in recent years. “Its recognition has surged, increasing by 49 percentage points in six years: from 14% in 2019 to 63% in 2025. By comparison, over the same period, Label Rouge increased by only 14 points, the AB organic label by 12 points, and growth was much lower for all other labels,” he said.

NutriScore’s awareness and influence

NielsenIQ's findings align with wider research into the front-of-pack label's traction. A 2024 Kantar Worldpanel study found a 97% recognition rate for the NutriScore label amongst French consumers, with 56% claiming it influenced purchasing decisions. Hercberg said this suggests the label has become a “reference criterion for a majority of consumers”.

Similarly, he said a separate survey conducted by specialist firm OpinionWay in the same year showed that French consumers looking to eat better consulted the NutriScore as a first point of action.

Beyond this, various studies conducted by the French Ministry of Health over the years have shown the NutriScore label to be popular amongst consumers, with a large majority supporting use of the nutrient profiling system, the professor said. NielsenIQ's research also indicates that 71% of French consumers in favour of a widerspread rollout of the label.

According to Hercberg, widespread uptake is exactly what is needed for NutriScore to achieve “optimal effect”. The NielsenIQ results, he said, confirm the “societal demand to make NutriScore mandatory”.

This month, Sandrine Runel, the Socialist MP for the Rhône department, also presented a bill to the National Assembly calling for the NutriScore label to become mandatory across all food products. The cross-party text is supported by eight of the eleven political groups in the Assembly.

Food company uptake

As consumer recognition and political discussions continue to advance, food company engagement with the NutriScore label also continues to evolve, Hercberg said.

“When NutriScore was proposed by scientists in 2014, no food company supported it or agreed to display it. And only six companies accepted it at its official launch in 2017. Today, in 2026, over 1,500 brands have adopted it.”

However, there are still a lot of major food groups that continue to reject and fight against the label, he said, including Ferrero, Coca-Cola, Mars, Lactalis, Mondelez International and Kraft. A few companies have also pulled away from the label, despite using it when it first launched.

“Some companies, like Danone and Bjorg, who previously adopted it in 2017, have recently decided to remove it from their brands to protect their economic interests, which were not satisfied by its update in 2023, made by scientists, that legitimately made it stricter for a number of highly sugary or salty products,” he said.