Food News

The 2024 Nutrition Report (in German) by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) shows that consumers are increasingly paying attention to Nutri-Score information when shopping.

For about four years now, the Nutri-Score can be found on many food products, and not only in Germany. The colour-coded nutrition scale uses an algorithm to evaluate various nutritional properties of a food product and classifies them into five levels. Within a product group, e.g. milk-based drinks, the colour system allows buyers to identify the nutritionally best product.

In the survey, 88% of respondents said they had already noticed the Nutri-Score. And a third of these consumers compared products, and for 37%, the traffic light labelling now plays a significant role in their purchasing decisions. Although the classifications are not always comprehensible to ordinary people. In addition, the calculation bases are regularly reviewed and refined by an independent commission. Roughly speaking, foods with a high salt, fat and sugar content are rated worse than products with a high fibre, valuable protein and unsaturated fatty acid content.

Even for food producers who have adopted the Nutri-Score system, it is not always easy to determine the correct classification for their product.

YOUR PLUS: Our food chemists always determine the Nutri-Score classification as part of the nutritional assessment and declaration check on the basis of the current calculation scheme, so that your labels do not give cause for complaint

Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger, AGROLAB GROUP