French shoppers will be able to tell at a glance if food products are healthy or not under a voluntary “Nutri Score” color code for food products, ranging from a dark green “A,” for the best foods, to a red “E,” for the worst, says Euractiv. The ministries of health, agriculture and economy jointly introduced the plan, saying it would allow nutritional value to be weighed as easily as price at the grocery store.
The French system is similar to the red-yellow-green “traffic light” coding used in Britain for nutritional components of a food product but applies a single score for a product, albeit with five gradations. The government tested Nutri Score and the traffic-light approaches in the supermarket and says Nutri Score “was found to have stronger impacts on consumer behavior, particularly those in the lower-income bracket,” said Euractiv. Obesity in France correlates with education and income.
Food industry groups said they were disappointed that France went ahead with its own system rather than wait for a European Union agreement on nutrition labeling on the front of food packages. A consortium of six major food companies said it preferred the British traffic-light. Consumer groups welcomed the French decision, saying color codes help consumers choose healthier foods.