Two Dimensions of Nutritional Value: Nutri-Score and NOVA

Carmen Romero Ferreiro, David Lora Pablos, Agustín Gómez de la Cámara, Carmen Romero Ferreiro, David Lora Pablos, Agustín Gómez de la Cámara

Abstract

Front-of-pack labels can improve the ability of consumers to identify which foods are healthier, making them a useful public health tool. Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack labelling system adopted by several European countries. This system ranks foods according to their nutritional quality, but does not consider other dimensions such as the degree of food processing. The aim of this study is to compare the nutritional quality (as assessed by Nutri-Score) and the ultra-processing (as assessed by the NOVA classification) of foods in the Open Food Facts database. A simple correspondence analysis was carried out to study the relationship between the two systems. Ultra-processed foods (NOVA 4) were found in all Nutri-Score categories, ranging from 26.08% in nutritional category A, 51.48% in category B, 59.09% in category C, 67.39% in category D to up to 83.69% in nutritional category E. Given the negative effect that the consumption of ultra-processed foods has on different aspects of health, front-of-pack labelling with Nutri-Score should at least be accompanied by complementary labelling indicating the level of processing, such as the NOVA classification.

Keywords: Open Food Facts; food labelling; food quality; nutrition; ultra-processed foods.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the total amount of foods included in the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of foods according to Nutri-Score and NOVA classification groups. Nutri-Score groups (A, B, C, D, E). NOVA groups (1, 2, 3, 4). Numbers represent the percentage of total food included in the study (n = 9931).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Ternary diagram representing the Nutri-Score categories in accordance with their positions on each of the three axes. Each axis represents the percentage of NOVA groups 1, 3 and 4. NOVA 2 is not shown as it only represented 1% of the data. The dashed lines indicate the coordinates of the different NOVA groups leading to the point where Nutri-Score category A is located (as an example for interpretation).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Boxplot showing the Nutri-Score values according to the different food processing categories (NOVA classification). NOVA 2 is not shown as it only represented 1% of the data. The box boundaries represent the interquartile range (IQR) and the line inside the box shows the median value. The black horizontal lines represent the score boundaries of each of the Nutri-Score categories.

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