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This is how Carlos Rios, creator of Realfooding, criticizes the operation of Nutriscore
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Nutritionist and creator of the Realfooding movement questions the validity of the food classification algorithm
The nutritionist and dietician Carlos Ríos, creator of the healthy movement Realfooding, has published a video message in which he asks the Ministry of Consumption to stop advertising ultra-processed aimed at children. He argues that there is scientific evidence that the consumption of these ultra-processed products is related to increases in obesity, cholesterol, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and various types of cancer.
Carlos Ríos states bluntly that «the labeling Nutriscore recommends sugary products as healthy, thus confusing the population and driving them to eat unhealthy ultra-processed foods thinking that they are healthy. He gives for example two packages of cereals aimed at children labeled with an A, Nutriscore’s best rating, when their main ingredients are sugars and refined flours. «These products cannot be classified as healthy products when, under the scientific evidence, they are not ”, he says and affirms that“ this labeling system, together with aggressive marketing campaigns, will continue to tip the balance towards the consumption of ultra-processed products ”. «The error also occurs with products that do provide nutrients and benefits, such as extra virgin olive oil o cheese, which are cataloged with the letter E (the worst rating) ».
Carlos Ríos’s criticism of Nutriscore
The nutritionist Carlos Ríos, creator of the Realfooding movement, gives the keys why he considers Nutriscore a failed classification system:
<br>• It is a patch, not a solution: It does not encourage the consumption of healthy foods that the evidence considers to be protective for health, such as fruits, vegetables or legumes, nor does it discourage the consumption of ultra-processed foods. As stated below, these are considered by the evidence to be the really problematic ones.
<br>• The algorithm forgets about processing, it has a wide sleeve with refined sugars / flours and punishes fats harshly. The nutri-score also benefits sweetened soft drinks; while the evidence does not strongly support substituting sugary sodas for sweetened ones to improve health.
<br>• Nutriscore only allows you to compare products from the same group when many times it is necessary to reduce the consumption of food from one group and increase the consumption of other food groups. This can confuse the consumer.
• Nutriscore along with aggressive marketing will continue to tip the balance towards ultra-processed consumption.
The Nutriscore system consists of grade foods and beverages with letters from A to E and with colors from dark green to dark orange based on its nutritional quality (from best to worst). To do this, an algorithm scores the product based on its content in simple sugars, saturated fat, salt, calories and its percentage of fruits and vegetables, legumes, fiber and proteins. However, it does not take into account the degree of processing of the product nor does it relate the nutritional information to the ingredients of the product.
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– – From here I want to ask @consumogob and @agarzoniu to stop the ultra-processed advertising aimed at children. 4 out of 10 children are overweight and obese in Spain, more than 80% consume ultra-processed products daily. – – Stop the Nutriscore labeling, which as I show in the video, this labeling recommends sugary products as if they were healthy. We are allocating our public money to implement a labeling that will confuse the population and encourage them to eat unhealthy products, especially children. – – Please, we have scientific evidence that the consumption of ultraprocesses is related to the increase in obesity, hypertension, cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and various types of cancer, among other diseases. They represent the greatest economic burden in our country in relation to the consumption of health resources due to associated chronic diseases. – – Thanks realfooder for your support, we need to lobby for politicians to listen to us. Share this video so that it reaches as many people as possible.
A shared publication of Carlos Ríos (@carlosriosq) on
The video exceeds 500.000 views. «I just want to keep doing my job, spreading the word on social media and helping the thousands of people who follow me. I know there is still a long way to go, but we can only do it together, “he says.
Also, the nutritionist points out that, currently, more than 40% of Spanish children between 6 and 9 years old are overweight and obese, almost double than 20 years ago. This problem significantly increases the risk of contracting diseases and substantially reduces the quality of life of those who suffer from them.
Spanish children, as Carlos Ríos explains, consume a high amount of ultra-processed products, more than 20% of their daily energy intake, leaving aside protective foods such as vegetables and legumes.