Nestlé removes Nutri score in Switzerland

Nestlé puts Nutri score off. Not everywhere and not on all brands, but it is the second time that an FMCG heavyweight Nutri score has removed packaging for a year.

The decision only affects Switzerland, where Nestlé has its headquarters. Here the company has decided to remove the labeling of Nutri score from its local brands, including confectionery, cailler and chokito. Beverage brands Incarom, Henniez, Nestea and Romanette; And Leisi, who makes baked goods.

All other Nestlé brands, which are sold in several markets, including Switzerland, will continue to wear the Nutri score label.

Why is Nestlé Nutri-Score removed in Switzerland?

Nutri score is based on a complex algorithm that evaluates food and drinks after “healthy” and “less healthy” attributes. It is this algorithm that has long attracted heat and more since Nutri score updates have created the effects of food and milk base.

But that's why Nestlé is not distant from Nutri score in Switzerland. Rather, the FMCG is dissatisfied with the extent of the adoption in its home country, in which the recording was low. According to a Nestlé spokesman, his brands are often the “only” that carry the label in the categories of local brands.

Since Nutri score is supposed to help consumers to compare the nutritional value of products in the same category, the company is no longer of the opinion that the label fulfills its role. The proposal is that Nutri score, if only a brand or a handful of products are wearing the label, no longer offers added value.

The exit is implemented by the brand of brand, whereby all Nutri score labels will disappear in Nestlé's local Swiss brands by the end of 2026. Instead, a QR code is applied to the packaging, which means that consumers instruct more details about ingredients and nutritional values.

Nestlé's decision is “contradictory” and “absurd”

This Nutri-Score recording is in Switzerland low is a point of dispute.

The label is still supported by local organizations such as Swiss obesity, the Santé Publique Suisse and the Swiss Heart Foundation. In fact, many in Switzerland demand that Nutri score will become mandatory, explains Serge Hercberg, professor of nutrition at the Université von Sorbonne Paris Nord, and who helped to develop Nutri score. “There are currently no significant political obstacles to implementation.”

Do other food and beverage products in Switzerland wear the Nutri score label? In other categories, yes. Nestlé itself continues to show Nutri score for brands that are sold in several countries, and many products from neighboring countries are also marked with Nutri score for Swiss consumers.

But even if Nestlé were the only company it was wearing, it would still be “unacceptable” to withdraw the label from some brands, says Hercberg. “Nestlé cannot say at the same time to prioritize transparency and then remove Nutri score from certain brands and markets, especially in the Swiss-DAR in which the company was founded and where the headquarters are located.”

The arguments of the FMCG for the removal of Nutri score of some, but not all brands are “completely unfounded,” emphasizes Hercberg. “The decision seems to be contradictory and absurd in view of Nestlé's public commitment to transparency and consumer information.”

Has Nestlé sunk for the same reason as Danone Nutri score?

The decision of Nestlé appears nine months after Danone decided to fall from his milk and herbal drinking products, which means that two big names have drawn in food for some brands within a year.

However, the catalyst behind Danone's step differs a lot from that of Nestlés. Danone was annoyed by Nutri-Score's Algorithm Change, the drinkable milk and herbal alternatives into the drink and not in food.

What does that mean in practice? Under the new algorithm are overhauled and half -kim milk from A to B and whole milk are downgraded from B to C

“This development offers an incorrect overview of the nutrition and the functional quality of drinkable milk and herbal products that do not correspond to the food base nutrition guidelines,” said a spokesman for Danone at that time.

Nestlé, on the other hand, creates a clear distinction between his motivations and that of those who question the updated algorithm. “We are now focusing on the new algorithm for our in-scope products in line with the two-year transition period, which are defined by the countries that officially confirm Nutri score,” explains a company spokesman.

Others have also given up Nutri score recently. One of the largest retail chains in Switzerland, Migros, has also decided to move away from nutrition labeling, and claims that it is still “relatively unknown” and “often misunderstood” by consumers. Some countries have also withdrawn against its adoption, with Romania prohibiting the label, and the manufacturers of so -called traditional foods in Italy and Spain repeatedly fought against its use.

The future of Nutri score hangs in balance

Nutri score is voluntarily worn by brands and retailers. The strong supporters include Nestlé (which does not affect the decision in other countries) and Pepsico as well as the retailers Carrefour and Lidl.

Whether the label will ever become mandatory is increasingly unlikely. The European Commission (EC) recently refused to confirm or deny whether Nutri score would be introduced in all Member States. The EC was also unable to confirm that it would still be pushed to a motiferation -nutrition -identification system.

Since the most important players like Nestlé and Danone resign for various reasons-and the political will on the EU level, the future of Nutri score hangs in balance.