“Front-of-pack” nutrition labeling

Excess intake of energy, sugars, salt and saturated fats is an important causal factor of obesity and related non-communicable diseases. In order to help consumers to make healthy food choices, many European countries have developed proposals for “front-of-pack” food labeling, intended as an integration to the nutritional information provided by the mandatory nutritional declaration. Based on the European strategic program “Farm to Fork”, the intention is to achieve a harmonized front-of-pack label proposal by Q4 2022. Among the different proposals, the one which received most attention by experts and greater feedback by the EU member countries is the Nutri-Score, a tool based on an algorithm whereby a “quality” category ranging from A to E is assigned to each single food on a background colored from dark green to dark orange. As an alternative to Nutri-Score, the NutrInform Battery has been developed by Italy in association with a few other EU member states: this proposal is objectively alternative to the Nutri-Score proposal due to a different underlying philosophy, in particular for its informative and educational intent rather than purchase orientation. The present document, prepared by the Scientific Board and reviewed by the Scientific Council of the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, represents the scientific-based position of the Society in relation to the general theme of front-of-pack labeling and in particular to the dualism created between the Nutri-Score and NutrInform Battery proposals.