Ten years of Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition labelling in Europe

Recognizing front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPL) as an important tool for promoting healthier diets, the European Commission announced in 2020 that it would propose legislation for mandatory, harmonized FOPL as of 2022. Among existing FOPL schemes that could be used to that end, Nutri-Score (a summary, colour-coded system) stands out as the most widely adopted since 2017, with studies documenting its effectiveness in various contexts. Here we argue that stakeholders with conflicts of interest used contestable lobbying tactics and instrumentalized evidence against Nutri-Score, contributing to the European Commission’s failure to propose legislation. We call for an EU–wide FOPL scheme to be chosen on the basis of evidence-based, transparent policy processes that readdress power imbalances and create the trust required for genuine democratic debate. Front-of-pack nutrition labelling is increasingly adopted as a tool to promote healthier diets. This paper reviews major front-of-pack labelling schemes in the EU with a focus on Nutri-Score, offering a critical assessment of the policy process led by the European Commission on the topic and underscoring the need for it to be more transparent and evidence-based.