No Nutri-Score: Danone to scrap “traffic light” labeling for dairy and plant-based drinks

09 Sep 2024 --- Dairy giant Danone is set to withdraw the Nutri-Score label from its dairy and plant-based drinkable product packaging in Europe. The company states the action is in response to an amended algorithm last year that places all “potable” or drinkable products under the umbrella of beverages.

Danone, which claims to be a pioneer in voluntarily displaying the Nutri-Score on its packaging in Europe, believes “this development gives an erroneous view of the nutritional and functional quality of drinkable dairy and plant-based products, not in line with food-based dietary guidelines in Europe,” a company spokesperson tells Food Ingredients First.

“Given this major inconsistency, we will gradually remove the Nutri-Score from our dairy and plant-based drinkable products, starting in September 2024.”

Confusing consumers?

The change in labeling will impact the packaging of Danone’s brands like Danette, Actimel, Hi-Pro, Danonino brands and Alpro.

The revised criteria brings down the Nutri-Score of the drinkable variant of Hi-Pro from A to C, while the same product in spoonable form continues to be labeled as A. The Danonino drinking yogurt score also drops to D, while its spoonable form retains the B score. Meanwhile, Actimel goes from A to B or D, depending on the variant.

 “It leads to confusion among consumers with different Nutri-Score scoring for products having similar nutritional purposes in our diet while being in a different format,” underscores the spokesperson.

The updated Nutri-Score algorithm increases the alignment between the front-of-pack label system and food-based dietary guidelines.Meanwhile, Professor Serge Hercberg, from the University Sorbonne in Paris, France, on whose work the Nutri-Score is based, believes that it is important to distinguish the ratings for solid yogurt and drinking yogurt, even if they contain the same amount of sugar. Drinking yogurt is mainly eaten outside meals as a liquid snack, with the risk of high consumption among children and teenagers, he explains.

Hercberg recently spoke to us regarding the incumbent Italian government’s proposed change to the nation’s constitution regarding the adoption of the five-color front-of-pack label Nutri-Score and argued strongly against the food policies.

Nutri-Score evolution

The French National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM), French National Food Safety Agency (ANSES) and the French Public Health Council (HCSP) developed the Nutri-Score, which was officially adopted in France in 2017, as a public health tool to combat chronic illness. 

The front-of-pack labeling is also used in Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

The algorithm underlying the Nutri-Score front-of-pack label was updated last year “to better align with food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) across countries engaged in the system,” and published in Nature Food.

The changes mentioned “all potable products will be rated using the algorithm for beverages. Milk, milk drinks, and plant-based drinks will now be evaluated using the updated beverage algorithm, rather than the algorithm for general foods.” 

It also states that only water can achieve a Nutri-Score A. In the case of milk, the determining factor for the Nutri-Score rating continues to be the “specific fat content.” Depending on the sugar content, sweetened milk drinks are classified “less favorably” than their unsweetened alternatives.

“The updated Nutri-Score nutrient profile model allows a better discrimination between products, in closer alignment with FBDGs, while the updated algorithm adopts a stricter approach for products that are high in components of concern (including non-nutritive sweeteners) and low in favorable dietary components.”

Backlash to withdrawal

Danone’s decision to drop the Nutri-Score label is being criticized by the international consumer organization Foodwatch, which demands that the “nutritional traffic light” be mandatory for all European companies.

According to Nutri-Score's creator Serge Hercberg, the ratings for solid yogurt and drinking yogurt should be different, even if they contain the same amount of sugar.“Danone’s U-turn on the Nutri-Score ignores consumers’ desire for clear nutritional information on packaging. It is unacceptable that Danone should decide to backtrack on the Nutri-Score because the products of some of its brands would score less well,” says Suzy Sumner, head of the Brussels Office for Foodwatch.

“The need for improved food labeling is urgent — without a mandatory Nutri-Score across all EU countries and all food products, companies are able to pick and choose if they want to inform consumers or not. The Nutri-Score is designed to help consumers make clearer choices.” 

The organization has launched a petition at Foodwatch France to urge Danone to stop the label withdrawal and to “commit fully to the label, which is supported by 94% of consumers in France.”

 According to them, the petition is shared with leading F&B players such as Kellogg’s, Danone, Mondelez, Unilever, Lactalis, Mars, Ferrero and Bjorg.

A harmonized approach

Danone is now examining the impact of the Nutri-Score withdrawal on its other product references and is working with all stakeholders, in each market it operates, to identify the best solution, the spokesperson tells us.

“We call for the adoption, at the EU level, of a harmonized interpretative nutritional information system benefiting all European consumers.”

Foodwatch agrees that the European Commission should “propose a mandatory, harmonized Nutri-Score across the whole EU.”

According to Danone’s spokesperson, the company’s health compass and Danone Impact Journey targets are inclined toward improving the recipes of its products and offering “consumers transparent information on the nutritional profile of our products.”

“We are open to further dialogue and collaboration to promote healthy food choices.”

By Insha Naureen