On the shelves where Nutri-Score is widely displayed in France, nutritional quality has improved significantly, according to UFC-Que Choisir, a consumer organization that calls for its mandatory adoption, as FoodNavigator reports.

Controversy continues

The algorithm behind the Nutri-Score Voluntary Pack Labeling (FOP) scheme regularly provokes debate.

For some, including members of Nutri-Score's Scientific Committee (ScC), the label works "well". Food companies Nestlé and Danone are among its backers, and France, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg have selected it as their national voluntary labeling schemes.

For others, including supporters of the NutrInform Battery scheme in Italy and members of the meat industry in Spain, the Nutri-Score is discriminatory and unworthy of consideration for the EU-wide mandatory roll-out to be announced by the European Commission this year.

Whether the Nutri-Score algorithm – which ranks foods from -15 for the most “healthy” products to +40 for the “least healthy” – is most effective at helping consumers make healthier choices or not, suggests a new research from France. has a positive impact on the nutritional quality of products on the shelf.

Some recipes up to five times healthier

In a report published this week by the Union Fédérale des Consommateurs (UFC-Que Choisir), the consumer organization noted that nutritional quality improved "considerably" between 2015 and 2022, but only on shelves where the Nutri-Score label is displayed on wide scale.

In three categories in particular where the Nutri-Score label is often present—in cereal bars, specialty breads and crackers, and breakfast cereals—recipes are up to five times "healthier" as of 2015.

The Nutri-Score is displayed on 43% of cereal bars, 61% of specialty breads and 97% of breakfast cereals.

"In just seven years, the proportion of favorable Nutri-Score 'A', 'B' and 'C' for cereal bars has doubled (from 25% to 49%)," noted UFC-Que Choisir. The share of Nutri-Score "A" and "B" increased almost fivefold for breakfast cereals (from 8% to 38%) and increased from 40% to 62% for specialty breads and crackers.

Using Nestlé as an example, most food cereal bars are now all Nutri-Score 'C' or 'B', according to the consumer organisation, citing notable reductions in fat, salt or sugar levels.

Since 2015, retailer Intermarché's Chabrior chocolate muesli has risen to a 'B' rating, while Boulangère's tortillas have achieved an 'A' Nutri-Score.

But other categories are lagging behind…

Conversely, where Nutri-Score is not widely displayed, nutritional improvements lag behind, according to UFC-Que Choisir: "Without Nutri-Score display, junk food thrives."

The consumer organization studied four more food categories where the FOP label is rarely carried by food manufacturers: only 17% of biscuits and cakes carry the Nutri-Score; 17% of chocolate bars and snacks; 10% spice sauces; and less than 1% of ice creams and sorbets.

"These categories have not seen major nutritional improvements since 2015," according to UFC-Que Choisir. More than half of ice cream and sorbet products (52%) earn a Nutri-Score "E" or "D," as do three-quarters (75%) of the condiments category.

Nine out of 10 products in the chocolate bars and snacks category and in the cookies and cakes category receive an "E" or "D" Nutrition Score.

Additionally, products carrying an "E" Nutri-Score represent only 1% of all national food brands, which UFC-Que Choisir suggests means most "junk food" brands choose not to carry the FOP label.