Professor Serge Hercberg of La Sorbonne University in Paris – creator of the NutriScore synthetic nutrition labeling system – corrects the ‘ errors,‘ ‘fake news ,’ and ‘lies’ of Italian Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida.
1) NutriScore, the Italian minister’s tweet.
Italy’s minister of agriculture, food sovereignty and forests relied on a Twitter to reiterate government proclamations against NutriScore.
‘The NutriScore is a bad system.
All it takes to understand this is a little common sense. We must strive to promote nutrition education at all levels, avoiding deceptive alternative solutions that are only useful to the coffers of a few multinational food corporations’ (Francesco Lollobrigida, Twitter, le February 28, 2023).
The ministerial chirp is accompanied by the crude graphic representation above. (1)
2) First observations
The rhetoric of Minister Lollobrigida, Premier Giorgia Meloni’s brother-in-law, (2) follows exactly that of Mario Draghi. Which in turn, as noted above, follows only the orders of the multinational corporation Ferrero, also disseminated through its mighty partner Coldiretti (3.4).
Italian citizens, even, were represented by Ferrero – rather than by consumer and public health protection associations – in the government delegation of the Italian representation to Codex Alimentarius, as well as the writer has already denounced. (5)
3) Professor Serge Hercberg corrects Italian minister’s fake news.
‘The errors and lies’
contained in the Italian minister’s tweet(see supra, para. 1) are corrected punctually on March 7, 2023, in the 21 tweets captured below, by Professor Serge Hercberg. Who had already shed light a few months ago on the gross falsehoods of another Italian report against the NutriScore. (6)
Coca-Cola and diabetogenic beverages
Sugary and carbonated Coca-Cola-type drinks have never been rated NutriScore A. Instead, they are rated E (in light versions, at most, B).
It is worth mentioning how the Meloni government, like all previous ones from Gentiloni onward, also postponed the adoption of the Sugar Tax. Although epidemics of childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes continue in Italy. (7)
Pasta and olive oil
Pasta – contrary to the Italian minister’s exposition – is not rated with NutriScore E, but with A, the best ever.
Olive oil has never been rated with NutriScore E, but with C, the best score currently available for a vegetable oil. And it will get even better, with the evolution of the NutriScore algorithm approved in 2022. (8)
Other vegetable oils, contrary to Minister Lollobrigida’s assertions, are never classified as NutriScore A. Instead, they start from the opposite, letter E for palm and coconut oil, D for peanut, corn and sunflower, C for canola.
Instead, the only system to discriminate negatively against olive oil is the deplorable Italic ‘Nutrinform Battery’ system , as noted (9,10).
Pizzas and meats
The pizzas are not rated with the #NutriScore A, as the image attached to the Italian ministerial tweet would have you believe. Instead, their Nutri-Score varies from A to E, based on nutritional values (saturated fat, salt, vegetables, fiber, etc.). ‘Only a very small minority of pizzas are rated A, while the vast majority are C, D or E,’ clarifies Professor Serge Hercberg.
Fresh unprocessed meats in turn are never classified as NutriScore E, as falsely represented in the ministerial tweet . Their classification varies from A to C – to which the color codes deep green, light green and yellow correspond – ‘depending on the type of fresh meat and its composition (more or less fat).’
Wine
Wine is not even classified, in the NutriScore system, because alcoholic beverages are to date excluded from obligations to list ingredients and nutritional values on labels. And only as of December 8, 2023, will these waivers cease, in theory.
Indeed, wine labels may continue to omit information on ingredients and additives, calories and sugars. Reserving the ‘communication’ for electronic format only, as noted. (11) Alcohol remains a serious and unresolved problem beyond Nutri-Score. (12)
Potatoes
Sliced potatoes (e.g., frozen) may still have a favorable NutriScore (A or B), when even subjected to an industrial pre-frying process with limited fat addition, if the oils used have an acceptable nutritional profile and the salt content is minimal.
These products can be baked or fried. In the latter case, it is always recommended that consumers be advised on the label that ‘if the product is to be fried in a deep fryer, the Nutri-Score of the product may be lowered by one or two letters.’
Mediterranean diet and NutriScore
‘NutriScore was designed by nutrition scientists and is in no way opposed to the Mediterranean diet,’ Serge Hercberg points out. ‘Foods based on this model are rated very highly by Nutri-Score.’
The Mediterranean diet promoted by nutritionists, it is pointed out in this regard, ‘is characterized by:
- abundant consumption of fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish (products well ranked by the NutriScore), and
- limited consumption of meats, cold cuts and sweet, fatty and salty foods (less well ranked by the #NutriScore),
- olive oil should be favored among oils, as evidenced by its C, the best possible score for vegetable oils,
- wine and red meat are not’, conversely, ‘the pillars of the Mediterranean diet model’. (13)
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Greece, Spain, Italy. Full agreement between NutriScore, Mediterranean diet and health
Scientific studies conducted in Greece, Spain and Italy confirm full agreement between the NutriScore food classification and the Mediterranean diet pyramid (14,15,16). In particular:
- The SUN cohort study of more than 20,000 participants followed in Spain for 10 years demonstrated the consistency of the NutriScore algorithm with the nutritional recommendations associated with the Mediterranean diet, (15)
- The Moli-Sani cohort study, conducted in Italy on nearly 23,000 participants followed for 5 years, identified an inverse relationship between the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and consumption of both foods with unfavorable NutriScore scores (16,17).
Support of science and civil society
More than 400 scholars, and committees of experts in the fields of nutrition, public health, oncology, pediatrics, and cardiology have signed a call for the adoption of the NutriScore as a unified Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labeling (FOPNL) system to be implemented in the European Union. (18)
Independent organizations such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, WHO), the European Academy of Pediatrics, the European Group on Childhood Obesity, etc. in turn argue the importance of applying this system for public health needs. (19)
Interim conclusions
The controversies of those who insist on continuing to hide the nutritional profiles of foods, as it turns out, are based on ‘ errors,‘ ‘lies,’ and ‘fake news.’ The NutriScore simply helps consumers choose at a glance foods with more balanced nutritional profiles (e.g., less sugar and/or salt and/or saturated fat, more fruits and vegetables, fiber, protein), within each product category.
One hundred peer-reviewed studies published in prestigious scientific journals confirm its effectiveness. And consumers look for such news, even when not displayed on the label. 3 million consumers in Italy alone use the Yuka app every day specifically to learn about the nutritional profiles of foods through the NutriScore. (20) With the additional positive effect of stimulating industries and large retailers to reformulate products. (21)
#SDG3, Improve Health and Well-being.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Professor Carlo Gaudio, it should be noted, is a professor of cardiology. Of Giorgio Calabrese suffice it to recall the opacity of statements about conflicts of interest https://ilfattoalimentare.it/comitato-nazionale-per-la-sicurezza-alimentare-2.html between public roles and private assignments. And the shameful statements, perhaps not surprisingly, in support of palm oil https://ilfattoalimentare.it/giorgio-calabrese-crociata-palma.html
(2) Who is Francesco Lollobrigida, Giorgia Meloni’s brother-in-law and Fratelli d’Italia bigwig: Gina’s nephew ready for government. https://www.ilriformista.it/chi-e-francesco-lollobrigida-cognato-di-giorgia-meloni-e-big-di-fratelli-ditalia-il-nipote-di-gina-pronto-per-il-governo-320985/amp/ The Reformist. 27.9.22
(3) Dario Dongo. NutriScore, Ferrero and Coldiretti against all. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.7.21
(4) Dario Dongo. Nutriscore and Yuka, Antitrust enters the fray. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 24.11.21
(5) Dario Dongo. Codex Alimentarius, the NutriScore and the WHO guidelines. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 29.9.21
(6) Dario Dongo. NutriScore, Prof. Serge Hercberg responds to Safe’s report. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 24.10.22
(7) Marta Strinati. Sugar tax. Fewer 5,000 cases of obesity among British girls. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 28.1.23
(8) Dario Dongo. NutriScore, evolution of the science-based algorithm. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 1.8.22
(9) Dario Dongo. NutriScore, signal on ultra-processed foods is added. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 21.12.21
(10) Dario Dongo. NutrInform Battery, the battery label. An Italian disgrace. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 10.11.20
(11) Dario Dongo. Wines, nutritional values and ingredient list in view, but not too much. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 5.10.22
(12) Marta Strinati. WHO, Oslo Declaration urges policy action on alcohol. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 1.9.22
(13) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. Genetic modification and aging, ultra-processed foods vs Mediterranean diet. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 12.9.20
(14) Antonis Vlassopoulos, Alexandra Katidi, Tereza Savvidou, Maria Kapsokefalou (2022). Alignment of Nutri-Score with Mediterranean Diet Pyramid: A Food Level Analysis. Nutrients 2022, 14(23), 5097.
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14235097
(15) Clara Gómez-Donoso, Miguel Ángel Martínez-González, Aurora Perez-Cornago, Carmen Sayón-Orea, J. Alfredo Martínez, Maira Bes-Rastrollo (2021). Association between the nutrient profile system underpinning the Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition label and mortality in the SUN project: A prospective cohort study. Clinical Nutrition,
Volume 40, Issue 3, 2021, Pages 1085-1094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2020.07.008
(16) Marialaura Bonaccio, Augusto Di Castelnuovo, Emilia Ruggiero, Simona Costanzo, Giuseppe Grosso, Amalia De Curtis, Chiara Cerletti, Maria Benedetta Donati, Giovanni de Gaetano, Licia Iacoviello (2022). Joint association of food nutritional profile by Nutri-Score front-of-pack label and ultra-processed food intake with mortality: Moli-sani prospective cohort study. BMJ 378:e070688, https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2022-070688
(17) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. Italian scientific study confirms the effectiveness of NutriScore. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 7.1.23.
(18) List of the first signatories of the call supporting the implementation of Nutri-Score in Europe. https://nutriscore.blog/2021/03/16/list-of-the-first-signatories-of-the-call-supporting-the-implementation-of-nutri-score-in-europe/ NutriScore blog
(19) Dario Dongo. NutriScore, full marks from IARC and citizens in Spain. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 18.9.21.
(20) Marta Strinati. The impact of the Yuka app on food consumption in Italy. Report. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 3.11.22
(21) Marta Strinati. Yuka stimulates food reformulation and works on eco-score. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 16.8.22
(22) Dario Dongo, Andrea Adelmo Della Penna. NutriScore, consumer health prevails over agribusiness lobby. Petition and insights. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 18.5.22
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
