Nutri-Score nutritional comparison
A new logo is now emblazoned on more and more food packaging: the Nutri-Score. This is an additional label for a quick comparison of the nutritional quality of food. According to the ABC, foods with relatively good nutritional quality receive an A rating with a green background. The worst rating is an E with a red background.
But which foods can I actually compare here? Chocolate pudding with fruit yoghurt? Pizza with toast bread? Or does the Nutri-Score only serve to compare food of the same type but from different manufacturers? The answer is: The Nutri-Score enables a meaningful and helpful comparison of nutritional values when comparing foods from the same product group. This means that the same products from different producers are compared with each other, for example brand A fruit muesli with brand B fruit muesli. It is also possible to compare similar products in the same product category, for example fruit muesli with crunchy muesli or different types of soft drinks , which represent alternatives for specific consumption occasions, can be compared using the Nutri-Score. For example, a creamy yoghurt can be compared with the chocolate pudding as a dessert.
The comparison beyond the product group is not a goal of the Nutri-Score. Therefore, not every product comparison that works theoretically makes sense. Comparing foods from different product groups, such as pollock fillet and strawberry jam, is therefore pointless. After all, who would want to imagine a pollock fillet instead of strawberry jam on their breakfast roll - even if the pollock fillet received the most favorable Nutri-Score rating with an A on a green background and the jam did worse. A comparison of rice with olive oil or smoked salmon with fruit muesli is just as flawed. Because the products have a very different meaning in the context of a balanced and healthy diet. And they are commonly consumed in very different amounts.
The Nutri-Score is all about the nutritional comparison of food. Therefore, when choosing food, it also depends a bit on how flexible you are in terms of taste. For example when choosing a dessert: Here the Nutri-Score shows at a glance which chocolate pudding has the best nutritional value in comparison - and how different fruit yoghurts fare in comparison. Because the reference value for his calculation is always 100 grams or 100 milliliters.
Dr. Christina Rempe, www.bzfe.de
