Contents
The mistakes you can catch if you read food labels well
Nutrition
Here’s how Nutriscore color codes work and how best to crack the conundrum on food labels
In the first four months of 2021, the front labeling system for food products will enter into force in Spain «Nutriscore». It will simply be a recommendation by the Ministry of Consumption since, formally, it is not possible for any State within the European Union to legislate about the labeling of food products, but everything indicates that manufacturers will adopt this system that already works in other countries such as France , Germany or Belgium.
Nutriscore employs a color code (associated with letters) ranging from red to green according to the assessment of its content of sugars, fats, salt, calories, fiber and protein per 100 grams of product. It was created by the Public Health agency
French in March 2017.
With five levels from green “A” to red “E”, all products are categorized in a very simple and highly visual way. This is its main virtue and it is also its main flaw: if all we do is a Math operation in which fiber and protein add up, and calories, sugar, salt and fat subtract, we find such an unreliable system that negatively qualifies the olive oil and positively a refreshment dietary.
The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition assures that it is already working with the authorities of other member countries to adapt the standard to the benefits of olive oil, but the truth is that this is only one of the defects most striking of this system.
Nutriscore has been chosen by the Spanish authorities, which from the beginning warn that “Is not perfect”. They explain that they have selected it because “it has more support from scientists and nutrition specialists, consumer associations”, because “it is more intuitive” and because “much of the food sector has already announced its intention to join” .
We have to be fully aware that, beyond the absurdity with olive oil, this system does not penalize that a product is ultra-processed Nor does it pay due attention to carbohydrates, despite the negative effects they have on our body. However, they are penalized -and indiscriminately- fat, which are a fundamental part of a healthy diet.
Other tag “translators”
Nutriscore is neither the first nor the only front labeling system designed to simplify consumer choice. The oldest is the system Keyhole, created by the Swedish Food Agency. It responds to a “best in class” selection, that is, from each category, it highlights which ones are healthier and identifies them with an icon in the form of keyhole (keyhole) in green. It applies to 33 product groups and, like Nutriscore, analyzes the amounts of fats, sugars, salt and fiber contained in food, but in this case it does so following a set of common criteria from the authorities of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, the ‘Nordic Nutrition Recommendations’. This means that soft drinks, sweets, cakes and foods with artificial sweeteners do not receive, in any case, the seal of “healthy” and that fat is not systematically considered as a negative component.
The oldest weak point Of this “green lock” is that in its 30 years of life – it was first presented in Sweden in 1989 – it has lost the appeal of the novelty. Industry and consumers no longer see enough added value. Now, its main promoters are concentrating their efforts on giving it the commercial boost it needs to regain the positive influence it proved to have in its early days, both for the industry and for consumers.
In the UK, a traffic light system, developed by the British Food Agency in 2013. It analyzes the levels of sugars, fats, saturated fats and, in this case, also the total energy value of the product, measured in quantities of 100 gr / ml. This front label adds an indication of what percentage these amounts represent of the daily recommended total. If 100 grams or milliliters of a product exceed 25% of the recommended daily total, it will be indicated in red, if they exceed 30% in dark red.
Consumers appreciate how easy it is, apparently, to understand: the more categories are marked in red, the less healthy a product is. But the truth is that the information it offers is only relevant when we compare two similar references or foods that we can include in the same category (for example: desserts). If we intend to use the same scale for products of very different composition and very different average portions, it can be more confusing than helpful.
In addition to Nutriscore, Keyhole and traffic light systems, which are probably the best known and most recognized, there are other references from countries culturally close to Spain such as Italy, which has just presented “NutrInform” with a battery icon; or Chile, which uses a “stop” sign to mark which foods are high in sugar, calories, saturated fat or sodium.
Do we really need tag “translators”?
Faced with all the range of proposals, it is worth wondering when we have complicated food so much that we have to invent ourselves color systems that we translate the labels of something as important as what we eat. Do we really want to give our body something so complicated that if it does not have a translation sticker we do not know if it is good or not? It gives a lot to think about.
For some of us, the simplest is a labeling that does not need translation. We believe that the label should be simple because the products should be too. A label should show the list of ingredients and processes, to which a product has been subjected. Efforts should focus on making the number of ingredients and procedures more reasonable and more natural, not codifying the endless number of artificial products that we have been adding over centuries of industry.
As consumers, the type of protection we need is not colored labels, but healthier products that meet these characteristics:
We will only natural ingredients: Eliminating artificial substances from food can shorten its life, but it makes the label easily understood by the consumer and, above all, much healthier.
With known processes: With simplicity and clarity, explain the supply chain through which a food has passed until it reaches our hands. Simply explained.
Based in natural alternatives: The food industry abuses additives and sweeteners because they are cheaper, but it does so at the cost of the products being less (or not at all) healthy.
Without harmful substances: The label is part of the packaging. Both must be free of components that are considered harmful to health, such as BPA or bisphenol-A.
We don’t need codes or colors. We need more common sense and authorities and producers more involved in promoting healthy eating. In general, fats are a good source of energy, while carbohydrates, sugars and ultra-processed ones harm us. Our own body, if we listen to it, will tell us what are the nutrients we need, what benefits us and what hurts us. What is clear is that learn to feed ourselves it is much more than looking at colors on a label.
By Niklas Gustafson, Nutrition Expert and Co-Founder of Natural Athlete.