Following the decision of Germany to recommend the use of the Nutriscore system to German food manufacturers, Luxembourg's Ministry of Consumer Protection has announced its decision to consult stakeholders for their assessment of a possible recommendation of such a system in Luxembourg.

Developed in France in 2016, the colour-coded Nutriscore system offers an assessment of the nutritional values of foods. The system is already applied in several EU member states, including France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. Most recently, Germany decided to recommend the use of the system to German food manufacturers with implementation planned for 2020.

With Luxembourg being a very open market that imports most of its food, the Ministry of Consumer Protection, which is responsible for the application of food label regulations, is considering the introduction of this system in the Grand Duchy, as well. In general, Luxembourg has always invested in as much European harmonisation as possible. Now, the Ministry of Consumer Protection will consult stakeholders for their assessment of a possible recommendation of the Nutriscore system in Luxembourg. Depending on the arguments raised, the Ministry may subsequently adjust its position at the national and European level. Such a position will go hand in hand with a broad information campaign that will allow consumers to better understand the recommended system, its strengths and weaknesses and to take advantage of it to make informed consumer choices.

Nutriscore is a logo composed of five letters (A to E) and five colors (green to red) with A / green representing the best nutritional quality and E / red representing the lowest nutritional quality. The system allows consumers to compare foods of the same category at a glance. The goal of Nutriscore, according to the Ministry of Consumer Protection, is to contribute, through a simplified decoding of the nutritional quality of a product, to a healthier diet and therefore to fight against the rise of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. At the same time, it encourages manufacturers to change the composition of their products in order to improve their nutritional properties.

It should be noted that current EU regulations do not allow Member States to make such a scheme mandatory; it can only be recommended. This is why other systems are currently on the market, such as the keyhole system used in Sweden, Norway and Denmark or the Heart-Symbol in Finland.