6533b86efe1ef96bd12cbda3

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Report of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) on the assessment of olive oil by its nutritional characteristics in the Nutri-Score labelling system

subject

description

* This record is given in both English and Spanish. The Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutritional labelling system uses a code of letters and colours to inform consumers about the nutritional quality of foods and drinks. However, currently this system does not cover all the positive aspects of foods that possess a specific nutritional quality within the Mediterranean diet, as in the case of olive oil and extra-virgin olive oil. The AESAN Scientific Committee has suggested different possibilities for a more accurate assessment of olive oil and especially virgin olive oil, in the Nutri-Score front-of-pack labelling system, taking into consideration those compounds that are beneficial to the consumer owing to their nutritional qualities. These proposals include: differentiating virgin olive oil from other oils in the algorithm’s scoring system, establishing a specific category for virgin olive oil; the positive scoring of individual bioactive components present in virgin olive oil, and the consideration of authorised nutrition and health claims for all types of olive oils in the algorithm. The Nutri-Score system is a tool for comparing foods within the same functional category, it is not an indiscriminate system for classifying the nutritional quality of all foods. A better understanding by consumers of the front-of-pack labelling system and its functions would help to improve their consideration of virgin olive oil because of its health and nutritional properties. In this regard, the corresponding communication campaigns may be conducted in order to provide consumers with clear information on the purpose of this front-of-pack labelling system and the func­tional categories that may be compared. It may also be worth to consider the inclusion of the food category together with the scoring (A-E, colour) in the front-of-pack labelling in order to facilitate correct interpretation by the consumer, or the inclusion of a disclaimer stating that comparison is only possible between foods that belong to the same category or have the same function. Finally, it is essential to understand the purpose of this nutritional labelling system and the food categories that may be compared. In order to prevent confusion it may be worth considering the algorithm as a negative characteristic the lack of nutrition value for a specific food.