As of 6 November 2020, the German government introduced the Nutriscore system for food and beverages on a voluntary basis. The system, which was already introduced in several EU countries, requires a “healthful to unhealthful scale” from A to E, printed on the front label, based on “bad” contents such as calories, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugar, and salt. Additionally, “good” contents count towards the more healthful side of the score, for example fiber, fruits, vegetables, protein and nuts. On the back of the package, a detailed nutrition label is still mandatory. Nutriscore is not suitable for unprocessed or lightly processed food like vegetables and fruit, cooking oils etc. Some exemptions apply for very small packages, alcoholic beverages and baked goods in bakeries. The EU would like to harmonize the Nutriscore system, otherwise the labels will confuse consumers.

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Posted on 9 November 2020