How does this transnational coordination work in practice?

Transnational governance is organized around two separate committees:

The Steering Committee, which includes representatives from participating countries—there are two representatives per country. The objective of this committee is to coordinate the rollout of Nutri-Score at the European level, addressing issues such as operator registration, monitoring the rollout, managing the Nutri-Score brand, and promoting the system.

The Scientific Committee, meanwhile, is composed of independent experts from the participating countries. The Scientific Committee’s objective is to study potential updates to the Nutri-Score algorithm with two main goals:

• to ensure that the algorithm incorporates the latest scientific knowledge;

• to examine the scientific rationale behind any request for a Nutri-Score update submitted by the steering committee. Requests may come from the authorities of participating countries; the business sector, consumer associations, and other stakeholders.

How will this governance structure facilitate the rollout of Nutri-Score? What benefits will it bring to consumers and participating companies?

This governance aims to facilitate the rollout of Nutri-Score by enabling the first participating countries to share their experience with newcomers. This may involve registration procedures, issues related to supporting communication measures (targeted at the general public and professionals, priority messages, promotional strategies, etc.), or monitoring implementation progress.

Although Nutri-Score is a trademark of Santé publique France, this governance structure also allows participating countries to be involved in updates to the Nutri-Score usage regulations, which define the conditions under which food companies and retailers may use the logo.

Another concrete objective, particularly important for multinationals and exporting companies, is to provide coordinated responses to companies adopting Nutri-Score at the European level, ensuring that rules applicable in one country are also applicable in another to facilitate trade.

It is also hoped that this transnational governance will enable Nutri-Score to be rolled out in more countries and thus benefit more consumers. Indeed, Nutri-Score is an effective tool for helping consumers choose products of better nutritional quality and encouraging companies to reformulate their products.

Is Nutri-Score gaining traction across all participating countries, and where do we stand in France?

For now, France—the first country to adopt Nutri-Score in late 2017—is the only country to have monitored its implementation. We therefore do not yet have data regarding its implementation in other countries, such as Germany, which has recommended the rollout of Nutri-Score since November 2020, or the Netherlands, which has not yet begun to implement it. We do know, however, that in Belgium, retailers who have adopted Nutri-Score are very active.

In France, several studies have been conducted by Santé publique France to assess the use and awareness of Nutri-Score in France. 93% of French people say they are familiar with Nutri-Score. According to a report by Oqali, after three years of implementation, nearly 50% of products sold in supermarkets and hypermarkets in France display a Nutri-Score. Since Nutri-Score is a voluntary rather than a mandatory system, the current situation in France appears to be very positive.