Food label: it is a clash between Italy and the European Union

What are the correct criteria when classifying foods? This question cannot be taken for granted, especially if we look at the open clash between Italy and the EU regarding the food nutrition label project.

At the center of the discussion is the Nutriscore, the made in France nutrition label that is adopted by various European countries, with the aim of increasing consumer awareness of the foods consumed.

What is the Nutriscore?

When we buy a product and read the label, we find indicated nutritional values, calories per quantity of product and the daily requirement. We also find the ingredients and, in some cases, the indication of the origin of the raw materials.

The Nutriscore is a labeling system that concerns food products, and is designed to simplify the identification of the nutritional values ​​of any packaged food.

How does the Nutriscore work?

The Nutriscore provides for the use of two value scales: one chromatic - from green to red - and the other divided according to the first 5 letters of the alphabet, from A to E.

Considering these elements, a score derived from the evaluation of seven parameters is calculated.

In detail, a high content of fruits and vegetables, fiber and protein makes the product have a higher score. The lowest scores are reserved for food products with a high content of energy, sugar, saturated fatty acids and sodium.

What are the limits of Nutriscore according to Italy?

Why does Italy dislike this system? In reality, our representatives in the European Parliament are opposed to this labeling system because, while pointing out the intrinsic qualities of the product, it does not take into account the daily needs.

This would cause serious damage for those products, such as Parmigiano Reggiano, which would risk being placed on a lower ranking than a jar of packaged pasta with sauce.

This system would create a dangerous mental association in the consumer, according to which products marked as red are not healthy, while those marked with green are absolutely healthy.

What is the Italian solution to the problem?

Italy supports the Nutrinform Battery system for food labeling. The latter is a system designed to provide citizens with true information, that is, based on the daily needs of the substance and banning demonizations on individual nutritional elements.

If the Nutriscore is supported by various distribution chains and multinationals in the food sector, Italy is supported by the food industry as a whole. The sector is united precisely because a labeling system that alarms, but does not educate or inform, cannot represent a correct way of approaching the problem.

Nutritional values ​​based on daily needs are the only parameter to keep in mind, in addition to making consumers aware of the correct dietary lifestyle and diets to follow.

The Nutriscore, as it is structured, could instead compromise some cornerstones such as the Mediterranean diet, which for centuries has represented the food system recognized as one of the most balanced.