Europe 1 with AFP 16:53 p.m., April 24, 2023

To better take into account knowledge about food and health, the health authorities announced on Monday, April 24, that the method of calculating the Nutri-Score, the nutritional labelling imposed in France and other European countries, will change from the end of the year.

The method of calculating the Nutri-Score, the nutritional labelling imposed in France and other European countries, will change from the end of 2023 to better take into account knowledge about food and health, announced Monday the health authorities. "This new algorithm will strengthen the effectiveness of the Nutri-Score to classify foods and beverages in line with the main dietary recommendations of European countries," said in a joint statement the health or agri-food authorities of several countries, including France and Germany.

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The Nutri-Score is a labelling system that aims to inform consumers about the health benefits or disadvantages of foods sold in stores. With green to red dots with the letters A to E, the system is in force in six European countries: Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. However, it is not extended to the whole of the European Union in the face of, in particular, lobbying by countries, such as Italy, anxious to defend the interests of their agri-food sector.

Even among its promoters, the Nutri-Score, launched in 2017, has been the subject of criticism which, without questioning its validity, focuses on the obsolete or inappropriate nature of some of its recommendations. It is with this in mind that those responsible for the Nutri-score have revised, in two stages, its calculation algorithm. After a first stage last year on solid foods, poultry will be better ranked than red meat, the steering committee has just delivered its work on the beverage component.

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This update will, for example, be less likely to recommend sweetener-based drinks, such as Diet Coke, noting that recent studies do not show a crucial advantage over conventional sugars. From now on, the six countries concerned must introduce these changes in their regulations. "Countries have agreed on a coordinated implementation of the new algorithm (...) by the end of 2023," the statement said. The companies concerned will then have two years to adapt their labelling.