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EU COMMISION DOES NOT OPPOSE TO NUTRISCORE, BUT CLARIFIES IT SHOULD MEET EU LABELLING REQUIREMENTS

Dec 01, 2019

As the Nutriscore is increasingly being rolled out throughout Europe, the European Commission has been questioned over the labelling scheme’s validity under EU labelling rules. With the recent introduction in Germany and application in France, Belgium and Spain, it appears that European regulators are getting convinced that Nutriscore might become the Pan-European front of pack label indication. A parliamentary question inquired with the Commission if the labelling scheme is compatible with the European Food Information to Consumers Regulation (FIC Regulation) and the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (NHCR).

In its answer, the Health and Food Safety Commissioner, Mr Andriukaitis, states that the Nutriscore should be considered a voluntary front of pack labelling indication in line with article 36 of the FIC Regulation. It should therefore meet the conditions of the provision, that it shall not mislead the consumer, not be ambiguous or confusing for the consumer and shall, where appropriate, be based on the relevant scientific data.

The Commissioner also recognized that the scheme, due to the colour coding ranking the nutritional quality of a given food, can be considered a nutrition claim as regulated under the NHCR. In that sense, the nutritional parameters which determine the colour code given to a food, should be based on and substantiated by generally accepted scientific evidence.

The Commission has assessed the permissibility of the Nutriscore in light of the relevant labelling Regulations following the notifications from France and Belgium on the introduction of the Nutriscore. The Commission remarked that the use of the Nutri-Score should also be furhter monitored.

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