The Nutri Score - New model for nutrition labeling
"And the winner is ..." Nutri score. It's a little hard to say, but it hits the nail on the head. What was it? In Germany it has been discussed for many years, especially how processed foods should be labeled in order to better recognize the nutritional quality. Goal: It should be easier to eat healthier and more balanced. Everyone was always in agreement that there should be a supplementary marking on the front of the pack. Only how and what was difficult.
Since then, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture had adopted the topic - also as an order from the coalition agreement - came driving into the matter. Various models have been discussed and scientifically studied, and ultimately consumers have decided which model is most understandable. Consumer research with focus group discussions and subsequent representative interviews with a total of 1.604 interviews, resulted in a clear favorite The Nutri score, on 30.9. presented by Federal Minister Klöckner. It uses a colored scale from A to E (green to red) to show the nutritional value of a product.
The Nutri score is based on a calculation model. In this case, unfavorable and positive nutritional properties are scored with points. Then both will be charged. The result is a total value, the Nutri-Score. It is displayed in colors and letters. A and green for the highest quality. Red and the letter E get products with the lowest nutritional quality. With the system, virtually any packaged food can be labeled, it is particularly well suited to compare within a product group.
The most important requirement for an extended nutrition labeling is that it can be read at a glance and provides a quick orientation when shopping. "Such a system should not be exhausting and must positively influence product selection as it passes by," says the study summary. The Nutri score met many of the demands that consumers made for an additional nutritional label: it is tangible, easy-to-understand, and takes advantage of the catchy, already-learned (and consumer-expected) "traffic-color world", for example the classification of electrical appliances.
The highest recommendation values were achieved by the model in two particularly relevant consumer groups: persons who rarely or not at all deal with the composition of food (67 percent) and in persons with obesity, body mass index (BMI) via 30 (64 percent ).
Incidentally, the Nutri score is not entirely new: The scientific basis was developed by scientists at the University of Oxford in the years 2004-2005. They developed the so-called FSA score (Food Standards Agency). It has been used in the UK since 2007 to restrict advertising for optically pediatric products that are poorly recommended. In France, the Ministry of Health has initiated the further development of the FSA Score. In 2017, the Nutri score was introduced there on a voluntary basis with the support of the government. Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg and Portugal also support the introduction of the Nutri score. That means for Germany: The wheel is not reinvented, you can learn from others and benefit from experience.
Of course, an all-healer is not the Nutri score as a guide to a health-conscious diet. But it helps to make the healthier choice of processed products easier in the future.
Harald Seitz, www.bzfe.de
Explanatory video of the BMEL:
