News

Plans to abandon mandatory Nutri-Score labelling ‘would be a step back’

Critics have slammed reports that mandatory Nutri-Score labelling is to be abandoned as “a step back” that puts citizens’ health at risk.

Documents leaked earlier this month suggest that the European Commission (EC) has abandoned plans to implement mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labels via the Nutri-Score across the EU’s 27 member states.

News of the leaked documents, reported earlier this month by the Brussel Signal, drew a negative reaction from Foodwatch, a citizen-based watchdog for the European food sector that focuses on protecting consumer rights around food quality.

Suzy Sumner, head of the organisation’s Brussels office, told Ingredients Network that despite these reports, it is campaigning for a mandatory, harmonised EU front-of-pack nutrition labelling system.

She maintained that this approach is “the best option to help citizens make choices on their food in the supermarket”, adding: “We are not stopping until we get there.”

Foodwatch calls for mandatory and harmonised labelling

Although the EC never officially proposed mandating the Nutri-Score, it has considered a harmonised front-of-pack nutrition labelling system as part of its Farm to Fork strategy. The Nutri-Score was a strong contender for this, as many member states have already adopted it.

Sumner said that in the absence of a decision at the EU level, member states need to implement the Nutri-Score at a national level to protect the health of their citizens.

She argued that non-communicable diseases continue to rise across the EU, even among children, and “despite this terrible situation, not one simple tool to help consumers understand the nutritional quality of their food is included in the EC's vision for agriculture”.

“This is a step back from the intentions of the EC five years ago in the Farm to Fork strategy,” Sumner said, adding: “We cannot wait another five years.”

“Does the von der Leyen Commission have a clear vision on how to fix our broken food system?” she asked. “The answer is no.”

Foodwatch: EC has ‘put citizens’ health on the line’

In 2020, the EC proposed revising the Food Information to Consumers legislation. At the time, it stated: “The Farm to Fork strategy announces that the Commission will propose harmonised mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling to enable consumers to make informed and health-conscious food choices.”

This proposal, Sumner said, “was pulled off the table at the last moment and never came out”.

The promise of EU legislation on front-of-pack nutrition labelling resulted in member states that had plans to adopt the Nutri-Score holding off implementation in the hope of an EU-wide proposal, she added.

“[Member states] put their own plans on hold and put the risk to citizens’ health on the line. The EC has failed to provide this solution – therefore [the EC is] doubly responsible for both their inaction and delaying the developments of several member states,” she said.

EU member states unaligned on Nutri-Score

Reactions to the Nutri-Score from EU member states have been a mixed bag.

In October 2017, France officially adopted the Nutri-Score, followed by Belgium in 2018. Germany adopted the label at the end of 2020.

In 2023, the Dutch government confirmed that the Nutri-Score would be implemented as the Netherlands’ food logo of choice from January 2024.

Sumner believes that if more countries adopt the Nutri-Score, more companies will take on the label, and more supermarkets will put the information on their shelves. This, she said, “will create a wave of harmonisation”.

However, not all EU member states have been so forthcoming. Italy has consistently opposed the system.

In 2022, the Italian Competition Authority published a decision ruling against the labelling, stating it must be discontinued in the country as it deceives consumers. Italy instead officially launched its own labelling scheme, the Nutrinform Battery.

Mixed support for Nutri-Score among European food industry players

Supermarkets and manufacturers across Europe are far from aligned on the subject.

Some welcomed the labelling. French supermarket Carrefour is demanding that suppliers include Nutri-Score labels on product information displayed online.

In the Netherlands, 95% of private-label bakery products at supermarket Albert Heijn now feature the label, compared with 13% of branded ones, and earlier this month, the chain announced plans to show the Nutri-Score on all products sold in store.

Food giant Danone, which is behind brands such as Activia, Silk, and Evian, was previously an advocate for the scheme, even campaigning for it to be mandatory.

However, it removed the voluntary front-of-pack label from all of its products in September 2024 after an algorithm update reclassified and applied stricter parameters to dairy- and plant-based drinks, which resulted in the brand’s sweetened drinks receiving a worse score.

Foodwatch has also been vocal about the influence of industry lobbying on public health policies.

Sumner said: “We don’t understand why multinational corporations have a voice in forums where the health of consumers is discussed. They are for sure representing their own interests and not the ones of consumers. Those who are making profit from selling unhealthy foods should not be allowed in the decision-making of policies to protect public health.”