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The era of healthy eating begins before the supermarket door.
“Eat easier, better” is written on a large banner in front of a Rewe branch.
The “Nutri-Score” is emblazoned underneath - a five-step colored traffic light that is supposed to help you eat less unhealthily.
A good three months after the official start in Germany, 116 companies with 236 brands have registered for voluntary use, the Federal Ministry of Food recently announced.
The scale is present in more and more markets, advertised with flyers, signs and even information stands.
It needs that too, because many reviews are confusing.
A presumably healthy ginger drink receives a warning sign, while frozen French fries are given top marks.
The calculation error of a well-known corporation shows that consumers cannot completely rely on the score.
WELT AM SONNTAG explains how consumers decipher the traffic light - and use it for their healthier diet despite the pitfalls.
This is how the Nurti Score works
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The Nutri-Score is a nutrition logo on the front of packaging that is designed to help customers choose products.
It has been around in France since 2017, and it was officially introduced in Germany last autumn - on a voluntary basis.
It consists of a five-step color scale with letters from A to E. The green A stands for the best and the red E for the worst nutritional balance.
Energy levels, sugar, saturated fat, and salt make the rating worse, while fiber, protein, fruits, vegetables, and nuts improve it.
The system makes it possible to compare products within a category because the score always relates to 100 grams or 100 milliliters.
Armin Valet, nutrition expert at the Hamburg Consumer Center, explains on the basis of the score on the refrigerated shelf which yogurt has the better nutritional values.
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However, it is not intended for the comparison of different product groups: Eating a pizza rated with B instead of yoghurt rated with C does not make sense.
There is also a different distribution of points for drinks, for example.
Most products in supermarkets do not yet have the logo.
However, if manufacturers decide in favor of this, they have to be consistent.
“Cherry picking is prohibited,” says Valet.
Anyone who prints healthy products from one brand with the Nutri-Score has to do the same for everyone else.
However, you have a time buffer: Rewe, for example, says it is gradually converting the packaging of its own brands.
The information can also be found online.
Does the traffic light really help?
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There are up to 40,000 products in so-called full-range stores - large supermarkets with a wide range of products - up to 20,000 of which usually come from the grocery range.
But it is unlikely that they will all be labeled with the Nutri-Score.
So far, companies have been able to decide for themselves whether or not to display the score on their products.
This is exactly what consumer advocates criticize.
"We need a uniform system across Europe that is mandatory for all manufacturers," says Valet.
Otherwise it would remain too difficult for customers to quickly evaluate products and compare them with one another.
Nevertheless, labeling is an important breakthrough.
Because now there is at least an orientation aid for finished products.
Peter Kenning, economist and chairman of the German Advisory Council on Consumer Issues, also sees this as a “good step in the right direction”.
Many studies have shown that such a traffic light makes it easier for consumers to take in information and provides orientation.
"The Nutri-Score could help to unmask problematic advertising slogans and customers no longer simply believe that wine gums that advertise vegan ingredients and vitamin C are therefore also healthy," says Kenning.
The Nutri-Score is a useful instrument "to correct any undesirable developments in nutrition".
Nevertheless, this is not entirely unproblematic, agrees Kenning - after all, every label could be misinterpreted and possibly suppress other information.
The Nutri-Score can also help in the long term regardless of the specific purchase decision: by manufacturers making their products healthier on their own.
It is important to note that
The Nutri-Score alone does not guarantee a balanced diet.
After all, how the buyer consumes the products, for example with a lot of salt or sauces, is irrelevant in the classification.
Consumers should also consider the amount: The score always relates to 100 grams or milliliters.
Most people eat products such as a 400 gram pizza whole.
And consumer advocates point out that additives are not recorded.
So if manufacturers switch from sugar to sweeteners, the score can improve.
“We take a critical view of this, because sweeteners are not better per se,” explains nutrition expert Valet.
They could also have negative effects.
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In other categories, too, companies can try to compensate for bad values with other ingredients - but these are not necessarily healthier.
Anyone who is interested in individual ingredients must therefore look further at the additional information.
A detailed nutritional table and a list of ingredients are mandatory for prepackaged foods and can usually be found on the back.
Confusion can also arise from other labels, such as an additional organic label.
“This is important from a sustainability perspective and to exclude pesticide pollution.
However, it does not specify anything about sugar or saturated fatty acids, ”says Valet.
Of course it would be great if a seal could assess all factors, he says.
"But that's an illusion."
For products that do not yet have a Nutri-Score, customers can use an online overview from the Federation of German Consumer Organizations.
It shows which amounts are low, normal or too high for the most important nutritional values.
Product I: ginger shot
Do ginger pieces and organic quality sound like a good choice?
Not necessarily, shows the Nutri-Score on the ginger shot of the own brand Rewe Bio: It gets an E, the worst rating.
This is because it contains little ginger juice, explains consumer advocate Valet.
Ginger shot from Rewe
Source: Florian Gehm
In the case of drinks, however, the proportion of fruit or vegetables must be over 40 percent in order to reduce the negative points.
In addition, this product is relatively high in calories and contains agave syrup, so it is very high in sugar.
There are alternatives that have a higher proportion of fruits and vegetables and that have a better Nutri-Score rating.
Product II: Chocolate Mousse
The companies calculate the Nutri-Score for their products themselves. What is on the packaging is not checked by a second authority.
This leads to mistakes, as WELT AM SONNTAG found out when buying two Danone products.
The "Dany Sahne Schoko Mousse" does worse in the relevant categories than the "Dany Mousse finest chocolate".
Nevertheless, it gets the better Nutri-Score.
This also caused incomprehension among consumer advocates Valet.
Different ratings: Dany Mousse from Danone
Source: Florian Gehm
And in fact Danone admits when asked: “We made a mistake when calculating the Nutri-Score on one of our more than 100 product units: Instead of a D, Dany Sahne Schoko Mousse currently has a C. We have initiated the correction directly . “Online the labeling will be changed immediately.
The D will be on the packaging from May.
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That is not a universal problem, says Valet.
But the error shows: that companies only have to register with the French health agency responsible for Europe and can then use the scale without further testing is obviously not enough.
Product III: olive oil
Olive oil consists entirely of fat.
But that does not mean that a product therefore automatically lands in the worst Nutri-Score level.
Olive oil is rated with C - there are pluses, among other things, because the proportion of saturated fatty acids is relatively low.
Nevertheless, the classification is not very favorable.
A number of vegetable oils are an important part of the diet, says Valet.
Usual consumption is not harmful.
"The Nutri-Score makes little sense with such mono-products," he says.
Unprocessed meat also counts as such.
After all, unlike finished products, there is no risk that consumers will lose track of the composition.
Valet advocates using the Nutri-Score primarily for finished products.
Product IV: Muesli
When it comes to muesli, the high proportion of fiber, such as in whole grains, has a positive effect, says Valet.
Berry muesli can collect additional plus points due to its high fruit content.
If, on the other hand, there is a lot of additional sugar and fat, the score drops.
This muesli benefits from dietary fiber such as those found in whole grains
Source: Florian Gehm
Therefore, chocolate mueslis often do worse.
Products that seem extremely healthy at first glance, such as spelled crispy cereals, are not necessarily the better choice: They sometimes contain a lot of saturated fatty acids and relatively little fiber.
Product V: French fries
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Even supposedly unhealthy foods such as French fries can reach the maximum value of A.
"Many French fries are now baked in the oven instead of in the deep fryer and have a lower fat content than before," says Valet.
This also has a positive effect on the calorie content.
A comparison with other ready-made potatoes is useful.
"Better fries with an A rating than a potato salad with lots of mayonnaise with a C." In his opinion, however, there should be a note on the packaging that the Nutri-Score worsens when prepared in the deep fryer.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.
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Source: Welt am Sonntag