While MEPs were to examine a European Nutri-Score project on Tuesday, a professor of nutrition from the faculty of medicine in Paris, who helped found this tool in France, warns of the action of companies and countries that are trying to discredit him.
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MEPs were to vote on Tuesday, October 19 on a European Nutri-Score project, which would allow the establishment of a nutritional logo equivalent to that used in France on packaging, in all member states. The device would see the light of day in 2023 if it is adopted, but it remains highly contested by European manufacturers.
“The Nutri-Score does not exist to please such and such a country which wishes to defend its industrial fabric”, replied to them on franceinfo on Tuesday Serge Hercberg, president of the National Health Nutrition Program (PNNS) and one of the founders of this tool.
franceinfo: Will the European Nutri-Score be similar to the French tool?
Serge Hercberg: Yes, moreover the Nutri-Score has been adopted by several European countries such as Germany, Belgium and Spain. The European scientific community and all European consumer associations recommend Nutri-Score as a unique and compulsory logo throughout the European Union. This Nutri-Score will however necessarily evolve according to new scientific data but, in any case, the Nutri-Score does not exist to please a particular industrialist or such a country which wishes to defend its industrial fabric.
How do you respond to producers who find the Nutri-Score unfair?
It is not Nutri-Score’s fault that cheeses or cold meats are high in fat, salt and high in calories. The Nutri-Score does not invent anything, it only translates the nutritional composition of these products into a form understandable for the consumer. This does not mean that we should no longer consume these products but rather that they should be consumed in moderation. Since being in place in France, the Nutri-Score has had an impact on sales, with a drop for low scores and an increase in sales on high scores. We also know that it is popular with consumers because 90% support it and 57% say that it has an impact in the choice of products.
Do you notice that lobbies are trying to distort the Nutri-Score?
Yes, of course and we have known it for many years because the lobbies have been rising against Nutri-Score for a long time. They are continuing today because the tool could become European. What you should also know is that those who reap the benefits without the presence of Nutri-Score are the big manufacturers like Lactalis for example.