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According to scientists, the weaknesses of Nutriscore often overshadow its strengths. This is after the system suffered a setback that could have been damaging this month.
The European Commission (EC), after years of trying, failed to implement a Nutri-score mandatory food nutrition traffic lights system across the 27 member states of the European Union.
It is good news for those who are critical of the Nutri-score system and believe it poses a risk to public health. Although Nutri-score is a good system, there are also some significant problems. The biggest one is that it rates calories as negative factors, according to Dr Dariush Mozoaffarian, director of Tufts University’s Food is Medicine Institute.
He says that, “Aside from the scientific error of calorie being harmful, it means that energy density is negatively scored, rewarding foods with more water and less fat.”
Science doesn’t like Nutri-score
He explains that such an approach can lead to “many absurdities”. A soda, for example can be scored high while olive oil is scored low. He advocates that the healthfulness of food should instead be measured by calories.
The 1980s nutritional priorities are still used to determine other major attributes like saturated fat. Dr Mozaffarian explains. It also ignores factors relevant to health such as the harms caused by refined grains, starches, and flours.
He explains that the harms caused by ultra-processing are not mentioned, nor the positive effects of polyphenols or bioactives.
Read also: Nutri-score abandonment by EC
Nutri-score’s current setup emphasizes positive aspects of protein, without taking into account the source. “Despite different foods rich in proteins having different health effects”, says he.
However, there are some positives. Nutri-score is a good tool for some products. It can be calculated by using just a few ingredients and nutrients, says Dr Mozaffarian, who cautions, however, that it “does not work for other products”.
What Nutri-score is and how it can be improved
He says that to make Nutri-score more valuable, it is necessary to review its strengths and weaknesses. His department, which he describes as “a new-generation food profile system”, has created and validated Food Compass.
Food Compass is a tool that scores food based on calorie content, attributes, such as carbohydrate versus fiber, sodium and potassium, and nine other domains.
According to Dr Mozaffarian, soon a study will be released that shows Food Compass is able to be calculated based on information available about the product, including the nutrient content, ingredients, and packaging.
He believes that Nutri-score, as currently implemented, should not be made mandatory.
A more updated, holistic system is required,” says Dr Mozaffarian. Food profiling systems are a guide for both consumers and policymakers. We will be unhappy with the final destination if our roadmap is inaccurate.
