Three years after the launch of the Nutri-Score in 2017, the front-of-pack nutrition label is gradually being implemented in France on a voluntary basis by food manufacturers and retailers. Santé publique France, in charge of the implementation of the measure in France, conducts every year since 2018, a study to follow awareness, support and self-declared impact on purchasing behaviors in the French population. A representative sample of the population is recruited according to the quota sampling method and answer a questionnaire on the Internet. The latest wave of questionnaire was carried out in September 2020. The following report summarizes the main results obtained from May 2018 to September 2020.
In September 2020, the awareness of the Nutri-Score continued to raise to reach 93% of the population declaring having already heard of or seen the Nutri-Score. This result follows the gradual implementation of the logo on packaging since 2017. Nutri-Score is also more spontaneously mentioned with 18% of the population citing the logo when asked which criteria they use to assess nutritional quality of foods (vs. 1% in April 2018). The support toward the measure, already stable and high, raised in 2020 with 94% of the population being in favor of the presence of the Nutri-Score on packaging. A similar proportion, 89%, declared being in favor of making the logo mandatory, although the logo is still adopted on a voluntary basis. Finally, three out of four participants who knew about the Nutri-Score, declared having bought a product with the logo (vs. 22% in April 2018 and 50% in May 2019). In addition, 57% of the population declared having already changed at least one of their purchasing behaviors thanks to the measure (vs. 43% in May 2019).
These results, showing an increasing appropriation of the measure by the French population, are promising for the future of the Nutri-Score in France and in other countries which choose to recommend the use of the logo. Conducting similar studies in different cultural and food environments could be interesting to better follow the dynamics of implementation. Finally, the French Ministry of Health will publish shortly a report which will assess the state of implementation of the logo 3 years after the launch of Nutri-Score in France, including results from the monitoring of the Oqali (French Observatory of Food Quality).