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Nutri-Score 2023 update

Nature Food volume 5, pages 102–110 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

In 2023, the algorithm underlying the Nutri-Score front-of-pack label was updated to better align with food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) across countries engaged in the system. On the basis of a comparison of FBDGs and literature reviews with the current Nutri-Score classification, modification scenarios were developed and tested in nutritional composition databases of branded products in four countries. 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 favourable dietary components. The updated Nutri-Score algorithm increases the alignment between the front-of-pack label system and FBDGs, strengthening its potential as a complementary public health tool in an international perspective.

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Fig. 1: Nutri-Score updated algorithm for general foods, fats, oils, nuts and seeds, and beverages.

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Data availability

Belgium: the Belgian Nutritrack branded food composition data can be shared by Sciensano upon reasonable request. France: raw data from Oqali is provided at https://www.oqali.fr/en/public-data/data-basis/. Details and how to use the Oqali data are given at https://www.oqali.fr/donnees-publiques/faq/. The Open Food Facts data used in the study are available on their website (https://world.openfoodfacts.org/, accessed on November 2021). OpenFoodFacts is an open collaborative database of food products marketed worldwide, licensed under the Open Database License (ODBL). The Ciqual database is freely available on the Ciqual website (https://ciqual.anses.fr/). Germany: the Global New Product Database (GNPD) by Mintel is a commercially available database; relevant data from the Product Monitoring Database of the Max Rubner-Institut are complemented by purchased data from the consumer research institute GfK. Thus, data from both sources cannot be shared with external persons/institutions. The Netherlands: the Dutch branded food database is not open access, therefore not publicly available.

Code availability

The code used to generate the results is available upon request from the corresponding author exclusively for the purposes of undertaking academic, governmental or non-profit research.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Egnell (French Directorate of Health) for acting as Secretariat for the Scientific Committee of Nutri-Score, efficiently organizing the workflow of the group (meeting agenda and minutes, logistical help in setting in-person and remote meetings); J. de Goede (Health Council of the Netherlands) for her contribution in the review of the evidence for the group; V. Bullón-Vela, C. Sayón-Orea, M. Bes-Rastrollo and M. A. Martínez-González (University of Navarra) for their contribution in the review of the evidence regarding olive oil; the Department of Nutritional Behaviour at the Max Rubner-Institut for providing us with the required packaged food data of the national product monitoring as an essential part of the performed analyses; and the Oqali team for providing us with reliable curated data for the French food market. We also thank J. Lauvai, Department of Department of Physiology and Biochemistry of Nutrition, Max Rubner-Institut for carefully editing the document for English language. The scientific committee members did not receive funding for the work. B.S. was supported by a Doctoral Fellowship from Université Sorbonne Paris Nord to Galilée Doctoral School.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Benedikt Merz, Elisabeth Temme.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Biochemistry of Nutrition, Max Rubner-Institut, Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Benedikt Merz, Hanna Haidar & Charlotte Kühnelt

  2. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands

    Elisabeth Temme & Elly Steenbergen

  3. Haute Ecole Leonard de Vinci, Health Sector, Dietetics Department, Brussels, Belgium

    Hélène Alexiou

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC, location Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Joline Wilhelma Johanna Beulens

  5. Amsterdam Public Health, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Joline Wilhelma Johanna Beulens

  6. Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Joline Wilhelma Johanna Beulens

  7. Paderborn University, Institute of Nutrition, Consumption and Health, Faculty of Natural Science, Paderborn, Germany

    Anette Elisabeth Buyken

  8. Nutrition and Health Research Group, Department of Precision Health, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Strassen, Luxembourg

    Torsten Bohn

  9. Santé publique France, French National Public Health Agency, Saint-Maurice, France

    Pauline Ducrot

  10. Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland

    Marie-Noëlle Falquet

  11. Observatory of Nutrition and Study of Obesity in Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition, Madrid, Spain

    Marta García Solano

  12. Externas GmbH, Bern, Switzerland

    Esther Infanger

  13. Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch-Institut, Berlin, Germany

    Charlotte Kühnelt

  14. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, and IMDEA-Food (CEI UAM+CSIC), Madrid, Spain

    Fernando Rodríguez-Artalejo

  15. Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team - Sorbonne Paris Nord University, INSERM U1153, INRAE U1125, CNAM, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center – University of Paris (CRESS), Bobigny, France

    Barthélémy Sarda & Chantal Julia

  16. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium

    Stefanie Vandevijvere

  17. Public Health Department, Paris-Seine-Saint-Denis University Hospitals (AP-HP), Bobigny, France

    Chantal Julia

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Contributions

B.M. and E.T. contributed equally to this study and share first co-authorship. C.J. coordinated the study, acted as Chairperson for the Scientific Committee of Nutri-Score and drafted the original paper. She is the guarantor. C.J. and B.S.; B.M., C.K. and H.H.; E.T. and E.S.; S.V. collected and analysed data from databases in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, respectively, for the study. All authors participated in the review of the literature and participated equally in the interpretation of results, decision-making process for the scientific committee and critically revised the paper for important intellectual content. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chantal Julia.

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Competing interests

B.M., E.T., H.A., J.W.J.B., A.E.B., T.B., P.D., M.-N.F., M.G.S., E.I., F.R.-A., S.V. and C.J. are members of the Scientific Committee of the Nutri-Score.

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Nature Food thanks Eden Barrett, Alison Tedstone and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Figs. 1 and 2, Tables 1–6 and Notes.

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Merz, B., Temme, E., Alexiou, H. et al. Nutri-Score 2023 update. Nat Food 5, 102–110 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-024-00920-3

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