Shopping with the Nutri-Score

Many people intend to buy groceries in a more conscious and balanced way. But who really takes the time to do this? Around half of consumers spend less than a second making a purchase decision within a range. Not enough to study nutritional tables. The Nutri-Score can solve this dilemma. The five-level scale with the sequence of letters from A to E highlighted in traffic light colors enables a quick comparison of nutritional value: A with a green background stands for the best overall nutritional value. Foodstuffs with an E highlighted in red should be consumed sparingly.

An unprocessed pollack fillet, for example, receives an A with a green background. For breaded fillets, the rating can move to a B with a light green background, depending on the composition of the breading. If the salt content is comparatively low, the product can retain the A rating despite the breading. However, this is by no means the case with every product of every brand. The Nutri-Score enables a quick comparison of nutritional values ​​between different products that carry the label. However, what the Nutri-Score cannot show: An additional fat intake of the fish product during preparation. That is entirely up to the consumer.

The Nutri-Score also does not provide detailed information on nutritional values, such as energy or fat content. After all, the Nutri-Score complements the nutritional value table on the label. There you will find the exact information on the energy and fat content and five other nutrient contents. The list of ingredients also provides further information on the nutritional quality of a food. When it comes to drinks in particular, it is worth taking a look at the comparatively small print. For example, some soft drinks impress at first glance with a green B rating and only the list of ingredients reveals that they contain sweeteners instead of sugar. An exchange that may not appeal to everyone.

Dr. Christina Rempe, www.bzfe.de