Nutriscore, the traffic light label is losing support throughout Europe

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«Nutriscore, the traffic light labeling system that penalizes almost all Italian food excellences, is losing support in Europe and serious doubts are beginning to emerge even in the countries that have adopted it». This is supported by Federalimentare, after the recent decisions of Spain, Romania, Poland and Switzerland not to adopt the French “traffic light” labeling system.

«After the 2019 elections – explains the Federation – the Spanish government had announced that by the first quarter of 2021 it would implement the French traffic light scheme. Now, not only has Nutriscore never been adopted, but less than a month before the general elections, all the main parties are officially aligned against it. Switzerland, a non-EU country but very important for Italian exports, has been recommending the Nutriscore since 2019, but on Tuesday 6 June the Council of States accepted a motion inviting us to consider the negative effects of the traffic light scheme”.

According to Federalimentare, only a small group of five countries, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, still support the adoption of Nutriscore in Europe, very far from the qualified majority required for a possible vote in the EU Council. «On the contrary, – says Federalimentare – the front of the opponents, which already included seven countries in 2020 (Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary), with Spain and Poland has expanded to the point of largely exceeding the blocking minority necessary to stop a possible proposal for the introduction of the Nutriscore”. In this scenario, Federalimentare continues, “it is desirable that the Commission take note of the will of the Member States and move towards consumer information models that are more suitable for protecting the health of European citizens, such as the NutrInform Battery”. This is an information scheme proposed by Italy which is non-discriminatory and is based on the reference daily consumption established by EFSA at EU level and “able to help consumers follow a healthy, varied and balanced diet”.