From September 26 and for 10 weeks, 4 new logos will be tested in 40 supermarkets across France. The challenge is to fight against obesity. The controversy rages on the choice of labels.
Nutritional indicators: fighting obesity
The goal of the Ministry of Health is clear: fight against obesity, which affects 15% of the population by encouraging the French to buy less products rich in fat, salt and sugar. Each store sticks a label on a selection of products (fresh, baked goods, pastries and sandwiches), in order to see how customers react. 4 logos are in the running.
War is declared, the Ministry of Health had selected the most visual logo, a gradation of colors according to the nutritional value of the product. The agro-food industries considered it too stigmatizing and did everything to put other logos in competition. Labels less readable and less clear, according to scientists, and therefore less effective in informing customers.
Logos not clear enough for doctors
With this pressure from industrialists, Marisol Touraine, Minister of Health, accepted that a new study be made on different logos. Pr Serge Hercberg, president of the National Health Nutrition Program (PNNS), denounces a waste of time in the application of a measure which should already be implemented.
Chemicals are the “big ones forgotten” in this new labeling process, deplore nutritionists … In fact, in order to choose a product well, it would be necessary to be able to take into account the amount of chemical additives, sugar and bad fats. The war on obesity has only just begun!
Read also : Obesity, more than a diet problem
