The Government will approve Nutriscore before the end of the year and will exclude olive oil but not ham
These are the best extra virgin olive oils in the world
Why is the
Nutri-Score nutrition labeling
not convincing
?
Last February, the Ministry of Consumption announced an exception for olive oil with the intention of protecting a product that was less valued than Coca-Cola, but it still did not see clearly the exit of Iberian ham.
However, since 2017, when it was created in Oxford and approved in France, this food rating traffic light has generated
more debate and problems
than it was intended to solve.
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"Perhaps the Nutri-Score algorithm should be rethought"
, criticized these days Marcos Vázquez, one of the most reputable health disseminators in Spain on his social networks, where he accumulates more than 308,000 followers.
Also one of the most famous national nutritionists, Carlos Ríos, has raised his voice since the beginning of the implantation in defense of typical products of the Mediterranean diet, such as
nuts, fish, whole yogurt or cheese
.
"It will be the last blow to what remains of our food culture, of real food against the multinationals of the ultra-processed".
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The confusion generated by Nutri-Score
Nutri-Score was intended to be a useful tool for consumers to make purchases by seeing very quickly
the nutritional value on the front of packaged products
through a color and letter code.
The traffic light system is based on the following ratings:
AB in dark and light green (minus 2 points) =
healthy
C in yellow or light orange (3 to 18 points) =
moderation
DE in dark orange and red (more than 19 points) =
avoid
To classify the products they use an algorithm that adds or subtracts points:
Add the
amount
: calories, sugar, saturated fat, and salt.
Subtract the
quality:
fruits, vegetables, fiber and protein.
Why does the controversy arise?
Mónica Barreal Francisco
, nutritional educator specializing in Nutrition and Healthy Cooking explains the reasons that alert her sector: "
The studies on which they are based are quite old
and in which their effectiveness has been measured, they do not give them as good results as other labels The values to indicate if a product is high or low in something do not follow scientific criteria or the current recommendations of the recommended intakes ", he points out.
In addition, "they do not differentiate between refined and whole grains in the case of cereals, virgin or refined in the case of oils, nor between proteins of high or low biological value (complete or incomplete)".
The inclusion of additives is not penalized either, concludes the expert.
When a purchase A does not guarantee that it is healthy
Far from being a simple and clarifying purchasing tool, Barreal points out, it is not useful for comparing all products from different categories and families.
"We are faced with the paradox that, in a first classification,
olive oil is scored with a D and a soft drink with sweeteners instead of sugar with a B.
This will no longer be the case because the Ministry of Consumption has indicated that certain products will not be categorized with this code, including oil, eggs and honey ".
But this timely recall
will not be enough to clear the mind of the consumer
, he continues, who will have to look at the ingredients and nutritional information, and warns: "Finally, this system can make the food industry reformulate its products to do well in the photo but there is no solid evidence that sweeteners are better than sugar. "
So the only way out, according to this nutritionist, is in nutritional education.
"We must all learn what nutrients our body needs according to our age and circumstance and understand the language used in the brands of products that should support our diet but not be the basis."
Nutrition education, essential
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She is not the only professional who advocates that
government campaigns be focused on training at a nutritional level
from infancy in schools to adulthood in centers for the elderly, passing through cultural centers.
"And that they are planned and led by dietitians-nutritionists, cooks, educators, caregivers, teachers and workers in the primary sector."
Many professionals in the olive oil sector had been demanding a change from the institutions.
From Finca la Torre, the
marketing manager
Borja Adrián expresses the current disagreement and passivity in the face of a real problem for the producers.
"What is the sense that EVOO is the basis of the much envied Mediterranean diet, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since November 16, 2013, if on the other hand we discredit it like this? More than proven are
the benefits for health brings
, we think that this debate should never have taken place if the work had been done in Europe. "
Invites consumers to read the regulations in detail: "
EVOO should never be on the list since it is a simple olive juice
, possibly the healthiest unprocessed natural product that, to this day, gives us the planet".
In the same vein Ricardo Carmona shown, of DirectodelOlivar.com, the website that disseminates the culture of the AOVE: "It would make
sense that a beneficial health product with scientific evidence recognized by the EFSA (European Food Safety Agency),
is was harmed by a mathematical algorithm that does not work well
when applied to foods that are not processed. It is good news that they do not have to pay just for sinners and therefore
a good example of the triumph of human intelligence over artificial intelligence. "
"Is not working"
The conclusion of the experts seems clear: "The information by colors and categories obvious characteristics of very important foods, for example, and in the case that concerns us with olive oil, scores fats as less good without taking into account that oleic acids make our cells more protected and provide us with energy.
It cannot be considered solely that fat makes us fat because we have to take it and that is a major failure of the Nutri-Score
. concludes Brígida Jiménez, doctor in nutrition from the Andalusian Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries, Food and Ecological Production Research and Training (IFAPA).
Now it is the
Iberian ham producers
who want to follow in the footsteps of the oil, but the Government, at least for the moment, does not grant this exclusion.
The controversy is served.
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