It’s a sobering message from the man behind the “five fruit and veg per day” slogan, who has watched as right-wing politicians and corporate interests successfully buried the five-color logo, which was adopted in France in 2017 and was seen as the likeliest candidate for an EU-wide front-of-pack labeling scheme during the last European Commission.
Since 2022, however, Nutri-Score has been in full retreat, caught up in the same anti-Green Deal backlash that stymied laws to reduce pesticide use, promote animal welfare and curb deforestation. Italy has led that counterattack, driving culture-war narratives about an “anti-Italian system” that unfairly marks down its meats, cheeses and olive oil.
Greece, Hungary, Romania and others have joined in, bolstered by support from EU agricultural association Copa-Cogeca and its national members such as France’s FNSEA, Italy’s Coldiretti and Confagricoltura, and Spain’s Asaja.
“It’s caricatural,” said Hercberg, noting that olive oil is well-graded with a B and that meats and cheeses get lower scores because they should be eaten in moderation. “I remind them that today it’s in the countries of the south — Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal — that the prevalence of overweight and childhood obesity is the highest.”
Nevertheless, Italy has backed the alternative NutrInform, whose algorithm displays five batteries (calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt) and the percent of a person’s daily needs that the product meets. The French scientist is skeptical: “If tomorrow there was a logo shown to be more effective, I’d abandon Nutri-Score immediately,” he vowed.
For now, he isn’t letting go and complains of stagnation in the takeup of Nutri-Score. Portugal’s new center-right government dropped the system this summer, leaving only six EU countries whose health ministry still recommends it: France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
