Nutri-Score: The Most Efficient Front-of-Pack Nutrition Label to Inform Portuguese Consumers on the Nutritional Quality of Foods and Help Them Identify Healthier Options in Purchasing Situations

Francisco Goiana-Da-Silva (1) , David Cruz-E-Silva (2) , Catarina Nobre-Da-Costa (3) , Alexandre Morais Nunes (2) , Morgane Fialon (4) , Manon Egnell (4) , Pilar Galan (4) , Chantal Julia (4, 5) , Zenobia Talati (6) , Simone Pettigrew (7) , Ara Darzi (1) , Fernando Araújo (3) , Serge Hercberg (4, 5)

1 Imperial College London
2 Universidade de Lisboa
3 Chercheur indépendant
4 EREN [CRESS - U1153 / UMR_A 1125] - Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team | Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle
5 Département de Santé Publique [Avicenne]
6 Curtin University
7 GIGH - The George Institute for Global Health [Sydney]

Several studies have identified Front-of-Pack Nutrition Labels (FoPLs) as a promising strategy to improve the nutritional quality of consumers' food choices and encourage manufacturers to offer healthier products. This study aims to fill the evidence gap regarding the most effective FoPL among the Portuguese population. In total, 1059 Portuguese participants were recruited through a web panel provider and asked to declare their intended food choices and to rank three sets of products (pizza, cakes and breakfast cereals) according to their nutritional quality, first in the absence of any labelling, and then with a FoPL displayed on-pack (five FoPLs tested). Finally, participants were asked to answer nine statements related to perceptions of FoPLs. Results showed that participants improved their food choices, depending on the FoPL and the food category. All FoPLs led to a higher percentage of correct responses on the ranking task compared to the no label condition. The Nutri-Score was among the FoPLs producing the greatest improvement across all food categories compared to the reference intakes (OR = 6.45 [4.43-9.39], p-value < 0.0001) and facilitating the highest percentage to correctly rank products according to nutritional quality. This study suggests that, among the available options, Nutri-Score is the most efficient FoPL to inform Portuguese consumers of the nutritional quality of foods and help them identify healthier options in mock purchasing situations.

Mots clés: The Front-of-Pack Nutrition Label; nutritional quality; diet; public health; Portuguese consumers

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Alimentation et Nutrition

Francisco Goiana-Da-Silva, David Cruz-E-Silva, Catarina Nobre-Da-Costa, Alexandre Morais Nunes, Morgane Fialon, et al.. Nutri-Score: The Most Efficient Front-of-Pack Nutrition Label to Inform Portuguese Consumers on the Nutritional Quality of Foods and Help Them Identify Healthier Options in Purchasing Situations. Nutrients, 2021, 13 (12), pp.4335. ⟨10.3390/nu13124335⟩. ⟨hal-03879791⟩