The strength of Nutriscore in improving sustainable eating habits and well-being: bad and good news

This study represents the initial assessment of Nutriscore's efficacy in shaping perceptions of food healthiness in consumers. Nutritional labels are becoming increasingly common for effectively conveying messages to consumers and are adopted by institutions to develop policy strategies aimed improving collective awareness of healthy dietary habits. The efficacy of a nutrilabel is defined as the capability of Nutriscore to guide judgments and perceptions of food healthiness, overcoming barriers generated by personal characteristics and education. To assess the evocative strength of Nutriscore versus the associated characteristics of the product, we conducted a laboratory experiment wherein we manipulated visual stimuli by misrepresenting Nutriscore labels on both healthy and unhealthy foods. Our findings revealed a significant propensity for errors in assessing product healthiness, with half of the sample committing more than four errors out of six tests. Interestingly, these errors did not correlate with the type of food, consumers' education level, or food literacy. However, gender was a significant factor, with males making more errors than females (p-value: 0.021). Consequently, it appears that consumers are more influenced by Nutriscore than by inherent product characteristics, underscoring the label's strong comprehensibility. However, this influence can have negative implications as Nutriscore's algorithm is built on criteria that generate paradoxical associations between scores and dietary guidelines. For instance, Nutriscore standardizes nutrient quantities based on 100g portions rather than considering consumption frequency. Future food labels should reflect healthiness relative to consumption frequency, employing simple yet effective designs akin to Nutriscore. Methodologically, this paper proposes a straightforward approach for managing and evaluating the efficacy of both current and prospective food labeling systems.