The food giant, opposed to a new calculation method which penalises its liquid dairy products, has decided to remove this note from its packaging.
A “reverse” […] inadmissible»complains the consumer association Foodwatch. Danone has “decided to gradually withdraw the Nutri-Scores of [ses] dairy and plant-based products to drink [ses] brands from September 2024″announced the food giant on Wednesday, September 4. This concerns the liquid versions of the Actimel, Danonino, Hi-Pro, Danone and Activia brands, a spokesperson said.
If Danone has decided to no longer display this rating, ranging from A to E, accompanied by a sticker varying from green to red, informing consumers about the nutritional benefits of the products, it is because the Nutri-Score of its drinkable yogurts is no longer advantageous at all. The fault lies with a new calculation method, decided in 2023 by a scientific committee, deemed “incoherent” by Danone and other industrialists, who regret that their arguments were not heard.
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Yogurt marked as soda
Drinking yogurts have thus moved into the category of beverages rather than foods, and therefore notably compared to water, which alone can be classified as A. Next come skimmed and semi-skimmed milk (B), then whole milk (C). With the revision of the algorithm, the Danonino children’s drinking yogurt, flavored and sweetened, falls from B to D, “like a sugary soda drink”deplores the Danone spokesperson, noting that Danonino yogurt consumed with a spoon “stay in B” with “similar nutritional values”.
Danone claims to have been “pioneer in France” by starting to affix this labeling, which is not mandatory for companies, on its products from its launch in 2017. “It’s a tool that we really believed in”continues the spokesperson. The withdrawal of the Nutri-Score on certain products “does not change our course of continuing to improve the composition of our products”he assures. “Danone should no longer make us believe that it is concerned about the health of consumers”reproaches Audrey Morice, campaign manager for the consumer association Foodwatch.
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