Rusks, crackers, sandwich breads… The majority of products have not changed their recipe since 2019, regrets the CLCV

The national association of consumers and users wants the establishment of a compulsory Nutri-Score.

According to the CLCV survey on bread products (rusks, crackers, sandwich breads, etc.) efforts are still necessary to improve recipes. The consumer defense association regrets Monday, May 20 that in five years, only 25% of revenues have improved, including 16% with changes significant enough to improve their Nutri-Score. The CLCV also deplores that the Nutri-Scores are not displayed on all products.

The national association of consumers and users studied the composition and packaging of 1,740 bread products. For 148 references, the CLCV studied the evolution of recipes between 2019 and 2024. Result: the association notes that the majority of recipes have not changed since 2019 while several “could be revised by reducing their quantity of sugar and too much salt”.

Another point underlined by the CLCV, the fact that many products display statements which give them a “health” image, in particular by inscribing “reduced sugar”, “low in salt”or “without additives”. However, these mentions do not prevent the products concerned such as wholemeal rusks, table crackers, toasted breads or even soufflé pancakes from having “poor nutritional profiles”. Of the 51 references studied which display positive mentions, “67% have a Nutri-Score between C and E” And “69% contain additives and the like”. The CLCV therefore calls on consumers to remain vigilant and check the list of ingredients. Still on the subject of the Nutri-Score, the CLCV regrets that it is only displayed on 57% of the sample studied.

For Lisa Faulet, food manager at the CLCV association, continuing to improve product recipes and making Nutri-Scrore compulsory is a public health issue: “We see that there are a lot of products like brioches and sandwich breads which are consumed a lot by young people for breakfast or as a snack. When we see that there are some which still contain almost 30% of sugar in recipes, while we know the figures for obesity and overweight in France, particularly among young people, it is really a public health issue.

However, the association notes some good surprises: “the removal of palm oil in 34% of products which contained it in 2019 and the reduction in the number of additives in 36% of families which contained the most in 2019 (plain and chocolate/nugget brioches, toasted breads /toasts, sandwich breads, croissants and pains au chocolat)”. “But be careful, warns the CLCV, positive developments are sometimes accompanied by deteriorations. For example, palm oil has been removed and the quantity of sugar reduced in whole wheat toasts but the proportion of whole wheat flour and therefore of fiber has at the same time decreased by 70%”.

Faced with these observations, the CLCV is making several requests to manufacturers and public authorities to improve the quality of the bread-making product offering: “We are asking manufacturers to commit to the Nutri-Score approach and to continue efforts to reformulate recipes by reducing the use of additives as much as possible, by eliminating palm oil and by reducing as much as possible the quantity of sugar, salt and saturated fatty acids”. The association also calls on the European Commission to “make Nutri-Score compulsory in Europe as soon as possible” and public authorities to “strengthen regulations on the use of nutritional and health claims by prohibiting their display on products with a poor nutritional profile (Nutri-Score D and E)”.