‘Major Inconsistency’: Danone Removes Nutri-Score Label from Dairy & Plant-Based Milk Packaging

Danone is scrapping the Nutri-Score label from its dairy and plant-based milks, after its revised algorithm classed these products as beverages. It is facing fierce criticism.

French food and drink giant Danone is removing the traffic-light-style nutrition labels from the packaging of its dairy and plant-based drinks in Europe, after the products performed worse on the Nutri-Score scale following a change in its algorithm.

It’s a surprising decision considering that not long ago, Danone was advocating for the mandatory use of Nutri-Score on front-of-pack labelling, which uses a five-colour, A-to-E rating system to denote a product’s health credentials.

But the change comes after the European Scientific Committee revised the classification of the nutrition label, moving liquid dairy and alt-dairy products from the ‘general foods’ category to the ‘beverage’ category.

This has meant that products under Danone’s Alpro, Actimel, Activia, Hi-Pro and Danonino brands are now viewed in the same vein as soft drinks. The revised algorithm has meant that semi-skimmed and skimmed milk has gone from the A rating to B, while whole milk has dropped from B to C. (Only water can be labelled with an A score in the beverage category now.)

But Danone’s pullback from the label has attracted criticism from consumer groups, as well as the scholar whose work led to the creation of Nutri-Score.

Why Danone bid adieu to Nutri-Score

Nutri-Score was first launched in France in 2017 to enhance consumer transparency about product nutrition. It is based on the UK Food Standards Authority’s traffic-light nutrient profiling system, and built upon the work of Professor Serge Hercberg’s Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN) at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord.

The label has officially been adopted by countries like France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Portugal. In other countries – including Slovenia, Austria and Ukraine – companies have been voluntarily using the label.

Danone was an early adopter, and joined calls for the EU to make the Nutri-Score label mandatory on food and drink packaging. But now, with its sweetened milks, drinkable yoghurts, and certain plant-based milks bearing the brunt of the Nutri-Score’s revision, it has decided to walk back on this stance.

The changes were published in the Nature Food journal last year and sought to “better align with food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) across countries engaged in the system”.

One of Danone’s complaints is the inconsistency that the update has created. For example, the Danonino yoghurt now falls under the D category, but its spoonable form (not classed as a beverage) retains the B rating. Similarly, the Hi-Pro yoghurt has dropped from A to C with the new classification, but the spoonable version continues to have the A rating.

“We have always supported consistent science-based, interpretive nutrition labelling and were pioneers in displaying, on a voluntary basis, the Nutri-Score on our packaging in Europe,” a Danone spokesperson told Green Queen.

“However, we do not agree with the revision of the algorithm which switches drinkable dairy and plant-based alternatives into the beverage category,” they added. “This development gives an erroneous view of the nutritional and functional quality of drinkable dairy and plant-based products, not in line with food based dietary guidelines in Europe.

“It leads to confusion among consumers with different Nutri-Score scoring for products having similar nutritional purposes in our diet while being in a different format.”

Consumer groups critical of Danone decision, call for EU-wide adoption

Danone’s decision to withdraw from Nutri-Label on some of its products has met with criticism from several quarters.

“So much for transparency and consumer information,” tweeted the consumer lobby group BEUC, calling for EU-wide rules. This was echoed by French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir, which said: “Total transparency, really?”, in response to a Danone tweet promising transparency in 2020.

“To ensure there are no more secrets between manufacturers and consumers, there is only one solution: the Nutri-Score must be mandatory,” added UFC-Que Choisir.

Another consumer organisation, Foodwatch, joined the calls for making Nutri-Score mandatory across the EU. “Danone’s U-turn on the Nutri-Score ignores consumers’ desire for clear nutritional information on packaging,” said Suzy Sumner, the group’s Brussels head. “It is unacceptable that Danone should decide to backtrack on the Nutri-Score because the products of some of its brands would score less well.”

For its part, Danone also wants EU-wide regulations, but its ask is more nuanced. “We call for the adoption, at EU level, of a harmonised interpretative nutritional information system benefitting to all European consumers,” the spokesperson said.

“In line with our health compass and Danone Impact Journey targets, we are committed to pursue our efforts to improve the recipes of our products and offer our consumers transparent information on the nutritional profile of our products. We are open to further dialogue and collaboration to promote healthy food choices.”

Nutri-Score experts slam Danone’s U-turn

Yet more criticism came from EREN itself, which labelled Danone’s move “very regrettable and disappointing”. In a strongly worded post on the Nutri-Score blog, it suggested that none of Danone’s arguments to justify its withdrawal are “acceptable from a public health perspective”.

“These are unscientific criticisms without any real basis that attempt to mask the real reason for Danone’s withdrawal: the fear of a negative impact on the sale of its products,” the team at EREN said, feeling that Danone’s stance is on par with sugar and meat lobbies and companies such as Coca-Cola, Ferrero and Mars.

“Contrary to what Danone says, it is not drinking yoghurts or plant-based drinks that are generally penalised. No, it is in fact the sweetened forms of these products that see their Nutri-Score downgraded,” it added, pointing out that Danone labels these products as beverages too, so the new classification is fitting.

“For the sake of consumers, it would have been desirable for Danone to play the nutritional transparency game to the end and instead work to improve the nutritional quality of its drinkable yoghurts and plant-based drinks by reducing their sugar content to also improve their Nutri-Score,” the Nutri-Score blog read.

Research has shown that the Nutri-Score label is effective. In 2022, a French study of 1,200 adolescents aged 11-17 revealed that 54% had already been impacted by Nutri-Score labels during food purchases. More recently, a 27,000-person study co-led by Université Sorbonne further suggested that people have better perceptions of and stronger intentions of buying products with A or B Nutri-Score ratings.

Danone did not respond to individual questions about its decision’s impact on consumers, or whether it would be open to reintroducing the Nutri-Score label.

But in its statement, the company said: “We are also studying the impact of this withdrawal on our other product references and are working with all stakeholders, in each market where we operate, to identify the best solution.