The Ministry of Consumption

will remove olive oil from the European nutritional traffic light that it is going to implement in Spain this year

.

This system, called Nutriscore and which is already in countries like France, classifies products and labels them by color, based on their nutritional properties.

It does so through an algorithm, but

the sector had criticized that this system does not position olive oil well

and equates it to other less beneficial fats, such as rapeseed oil.

This traffic light

evaluates packaged foods within the same category and classifies them by color

(from green to red, from A to E).

According to the algorithm, this product of the Mediterranean diet would have a C, that is, it would be in the yellow zone, ranking three out of five.

According to Consumption, and so demanded by the sector, this evaluation could harm its commercialization, since

the traffic light "does not reflect the nutritional benefits" of liquid gold.

In addition, it classifies products within the same category (only fats), but not with other ultra-processed ones, for example.

This European front labeling system

will be approved in Spain before spring and for now it will only be voluntary for manufacturers.

Some countries, such as France or Germany, which have already implemented it, have shown our country their favorable position that olive oil leaves this labeling system.

Voluntary system

Spain is only an observer member of Nutriscore's governance committee, so the decision has to be approved by its voting members.

"We asked that olive oil be removed from category C because

they put it at the same level as rapeseed oil

and it is a vegetable fat, but it is heart-healthy," said the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development of the Junta de Andalucía, Carmen Crespo, in statements to EFE.

In his opinion, delimiting the definition of olive oil as "a vegetable fat" supposes "fraud to the consumer", so that its properties as a "heart-healthy" fat have to be reflected in "any category established at the level of the EU".

"Almost 70% of the oils sold by Spain are exported to more than 175 countries around the world

, especially to the European Union, where consumers still do not know enough about the benefits of the product", said the olive oil interprofessional Europa Press.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Spain

  • France

  • Germany

  • European Union

  • ERE judgment

DEBT The ECB dismisses as "illegal" and "meaningless" the petition to forgive debt signed by the president of the PSOE and Podemos

EurostatThe fear of a second recession gains weight in Europe with Spain at a disadvantage

CoronavirusThe EU economy falls 6.4% in 2020 and 6.8% in the eurozone due to the pandemic

See links of interest

  • Holidays 2021

  • Real Sociedad - Cádiz

  • Girona - Leganés

  • Wolverhampton Wanderers - Leicester City

  • Milan - Crotone

  • Real Betis - Barcelona, ​​live