Estonia advances Nutri-Score despite food producers’ concerns

Estonia has taken another step towards allowing the simplified Nutri-Score food label, but producers have raised concerns about the system, ERR reports. A draft proposal has been sent for consultation with interest groups, businesses and ministries. Use of the label would be voluntary but would require state approval.

Leibur, a bakery company, supports a single, transparent scale for assessing nutritional value, even though not all its products would receive high marks. Its Kirde bread received a C under the Nutri-Score system, created in France.

Leibur’s Baltic production director, Anni Talts, said a common label could help the company compete with imported products in Estonia and sell its products under its own brand in Central European markets where consumers expect to see the label.

Other food producers say the scale is too simplistic. They argue that sugar, salt and saturated fat can lower a product’s rating without accounting for the role it might play in a balanced diet.

Maido Solovjov, managing director of Valio Eesti, said a strong cheese rich in minerals and vitamins could receive a worse rating than Coca-Cola Zero. He also said the system could suggest that people should not put margarine on bread.

The Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture is weighing public health considerations, views from other groups and the potential economic impact. Ministry food safety adviser Hellika Kallaste said the aim was to make nutritional information easier for consumers to understand, while acknowledging that producers may be concerned if their products receive less favourable ratings.

The state does not plan to make Nutri-Score compulsory. However, producers may feel pressure to use it if competitors do so and consumers expect it. Some imported products in Estonian shops already carry the label, and retailer Lidl uses it on its own-brand products.

Lidl Estonia communications manager Liisa-Indra Pajuste said company-commissioned surveys found that consumers wanted clearer information. She said more than a third of respondents found nutrition information on packaging difficult to understand and did not know what it meant for their health or how it should guide their choices.