Surely you have seen it many times and you may even have an idea of how it works, but today we are going to explain in detail what the NutriScore system is, how it works and above all: how you should use it.
To begin with, you should know that the NutriScore system is designed so that the consumer can easily differentiate how healthy a food is. That is why it is based on a graphic image known to all: the traffic light.
The NutriScore scale consists of five letters: A-B-C-D-E and five colors ranging from dark green to red, so that the scores would be as follows
– Green (A), very healthy
– Light green (B), healthy
– Yellow (C), neither good nor bad
– Orange (D), unhealthy
– Red (E), unhealthy
What values are taken into account when assigning the NutriScore?
To determine a product’s score on the NutriScore scale, the following values are taken into account per 100g:
– Total kilojoules
– Fat
– Saturated fat
– Sugars
– Protein
– Salt
– Fiber
A priori you may think that these are important data that can help you decide which food is healthier, but you should also keep in mind that foods, especially processed foods, have other components that must also be evaluated, such as artificial flavors, sweeteners, genetically modified ingredients and many more.
To give a clear example we can talk about olive oil, which as you well know, is a very healthy food but with a high caloric intake so if we apply the NutriScore scale it would probably have a low score. And if we think about it a little bit, we also have to think about the portions, because, of course, it doesn’t have to be very healthy to take 100g of olive oil but how much oil do you put in a salad?
Even if they had the same NutriScore, it is not the same to eat 100g of macaroni, which I’m sure you eat on a normal day, than 100g of olive oil, because how many salads do you need to eat that amount?
Another of the most contentious points of this scoring system is the issue of sugars, since added sugar is not differentiated at all from the sugar in the food itself.
I suppose you would also agree that the sugar in sweets is not the same as the sugar released when you make orange juice at home, or the sugar you consume when you eat dates. All these sugars behave very differently in our body, so they should not be valued in the same way.
And the same goes for fats, because the algorithm does not differentiate what type of fat it is evaluating. Broadly speaking, NutriScore penalizes all saturated fats without taking into account that some of them are healthy.
Nor does it take into account additives, artificial and/or genetically modified ingredients, many of which are carcinogenic, such as E-230 or E-232, which are present in many industrial juices and have been linked to bladder cancer. But we must also remember that if the food industry does not use preservatives or stabilizers, food will hardly last more than 48 or 72 hours in optimal conditions; although to be fair there are also natural preservatives that are not harmful to health (such as vinegar or some spices), which are the options we choose as preservatives in RealVegy.
To summarize we can say that NutriScore scores positively what the food does not have, for example it scores in green: no salt, no sugar, no fat… so a food that has a lot of water in its composition would score very well.
So… What happens if we compare the NutriScore that a low-calorie soft drink should have with a glass of gazpacho?
What do we recommend from RealVegy?
Common sense. At the end of the day, don’t forget that NutriScore is just one more piece of information, but it’s not the only one. In addition to this scoring system, you still have the list of ingredients and nutritional information on every package.
Our main recommendation is that you read the labels, that you know the ingredients of the products you put in your shopping cart and with this information you can decide whether to buy them or not.
You cannot forget that the responsibility of choosing healthy food is yours, not Nutriscore’s, the government’s or any other entity’s. It is your responsibility and the company’s. It is your responsibility. It is your responsibility and that of the company. It is your responsibility and you have to assume it.
What does this mean? Well, you have to be informed so you know what you are eating and make the best food choices for you and your family.
So what is NutriScore for?
In general, we find this system useful for comparing foods of the same type. We have already seen that it is not best suited for comparing a glass of bottled fruit juice with a bottle of olive oil, but it can be useful for comparing two different brands of the same bottled juice.
It should also be noted that there are some foods that are exempt from using this scale
– Fresh produce: meat, fish, fruits, vegetables and legumes.
– Unprocessed products that have only one ingredient in their composition: vinegar, honey.
– Coffee, tea and herbal and fruit infusions.
– Food supplied directly by the manufacturer or retailers in small quantities (such as ready meals).
– Food sold in packages of less than 25 cm²: chocolates, candies, cereal bars.
– Alcoholic beverages.
At RealVegy we make all our products with a healthy balance of all nutrients: proteins, fibers, fats, salt, etc. That’s why all of our fresh products have NutriScore A, but they are also all free of chemicals and unhealthy components.
And we always encourage you to do your research and educate yourself before choosing which products end up in your shopping cart.
