Carrefour has asked its suppliers to include the Nutri-Score labeling system on all eligible own-brand products sold on its French website.
The initiative aims to help customers make informed choices and suppliers are now required to display the Nutri-Score on products offered on its e-commerce site.
The Nutri-Score labelling system applies to processed food products and beverages, while raw products, such as fruit and vegetables, fresh fish, and alcoholic beverages are excluded.
While the company offers around 5,000 products featuring the Nutri-Score information, only 41% of its own-brand products feature it on their products.
If companies fail to provide the information, Carrefour will calculate the score based on the nutritional information available.
Compliance
Suppliers who wish to object to this have three months – the legal period stipulated in the rules governing the use of the ‘Nutri-Score’ label – to notify Carrefour, the retailer added.
The retailer will list the brands that choose not to participate in this initiative on each relevant product page.
Moreover, these products will be removed from the ‘alternative for eating better’ tool on the Carrefour.fr website.
Around 40% of consumers using the ‘alternative for better eating’ tool replace at least one product in their basket, the retailer noted.
The exclusion from the tool is part of Carrefour's commitment to select products carefully by following the example of the Top 100 suppliers on climate initiative, where suppliers without a climate trajectory by 2026 will be de-listed from the retailer's outlets.
Nutri-Score
Nutri-Score helps customers eat better as it provides information in a simple, legible way for easy understanding, according to Carrefour.
According to a study carried out by Santé Publique France in 2021, 43% of respondents said that the Nutri-Score had enabled them to make lasting changes to certain eating habits.
In the same year, producers of Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano cheese in Italy joined forces to oppose the Nutri-Score nutritional labelling system.
In 2022, a report by the Austrian preventive medical institute SIPCAN claimed that it identified some 'serious deficiencies' with the Nutri-Score food labelling system.
