In early February, a quiet but consequential signal emerged from Germany’s food sector, with new Foodwatch analysis revealing that 33 F&B companies have withdrawn the Nutri-Score label from all or part of their portfolios. From global brands like PepsiCo and Danone-owned Alpro to familiar local names such as Harry Brot, these companies are joining a wider industry retreat from the controversial French nutrition labelling scheme.
This exodus coincides with the introduction of a revised Nutri-Score algorithm on 1 January 2026. Far from resolving earlier methodological concerns, the updated model doubles down on them, resulting in a cascade of misleading, scientifically-baseless downgrades on everyday products and prompting a fresh wave of withdrawals from companies unwilling to endorse a flawed system.
For EU policymakers, the stakes are not abstract – obesity and diet-related diseases continue to strain health systems and shorten lives across Europe. Looking ahead, this moment should mark a pivot toward policies that actually change outcomes: supporting physical activity, nutrition education and personalised tools that help individuals build healthier habits over time.
F&B uprising gaining steam across Europe
The updated Nutri-Score algorithm now drawing fire in Germany tightens criteria for sugar, salt and fat and reclassifies certain milk-based and plant-based drinks as beverages rather than foods – changes that produce illogical scores for nutrient-rich products. For example, Danone’s Actimel has dropped from ‘B’ to ‘E’ as drinkable products now fall under stricter beverage rules, despite being consumed as a yoghurt. What’s more, bread and other dairy and plant-based alternatives are also hit by new fibre and salt thresholds that overlook their nutritional and sustainability benefits.
Such scientific anomalies are precisely what has driven growing industry opposition to Nutri-Score in recent years, with Germany’s backlash adding to a broader European shift. In September 2024, Danone became an emblematic defector, removing Nutri-Score from its dairy and plant-based ranges despite having been one of its earliest supporters, with this move following shortly after withdrawals by other major players including Bjorg, Sweden’s Krisprolls-maker Pagen, Migros and Emmi.
Perhaps the most consequential setback came in May last year, when Nestlé announced it would begin withdrawing Nutri-Score from products sold in Switzerland, with a complete phase-out scheduled by the end of 2026. As a long-time supporter and the last major Swiss manufacturer still displaying the label, Nestlé’s shift signalled a decisive moment, with the group pointing to limited consumer engagement and waning political and commercial support as central reasons for its move.
Hardly confined to F&B giants, Nutri-Score has for years faced criticism from Europe’s small, local producers of heritage foods. Indeed, PDO-protected cheeses and cured meats have been saddled with misleadingly low grades, and under the revised algorithm even wholly natural, nutrient-rich French prunes have been absurdly downgraded from “A” to “C”. As a result, member states with strong culinary traditions, including Greece, Spain, Portugal and Hungary, have taken stands against the label, warning that it confuses consumers and undermines the competitiveness of Europe’s small farmers.
Research community questioning Nutri-Score’s credibility
Despite the continued insistence of Nutri-Score’s architects, opposition to the French labelling system is certainly not confined to food producers. Leading European nutrition scientists have for years pointed to structural flaws in the system, countering the Nutri-Score team’s narrative that the system enjoys unanimous scientific backing. Published in 2024, an independent Dutch study led by Dr. Stephan Peters actually found that most research supporting Nutri-Score involved members of its own development team, while the majority of genuinely independent assessments delivered unfavourable conclusions.
Building on Dr. Peters’ conclusions, other prominent scholars have underlined similar concerns about how the label functions in practice. For example, Dr Mariusz Panczyk of the Medical University of Warsaw has drawn attention to the confusion Nutri-Score can create for shoppers, while France’s own National Agency for Food Safety (ANSES) has cast doubt on its effectiveness in steering citizens toward genuinely balanced diets. Mirroring the critique of eminent French nutritionist Dr Jean-Michel Lecerf, Tufts University’s Dr Dariush Mozaffarian concludes that a Nutri-Score’s algorithm remains anchored in “outdated 1980s nutrition priorities” that insufficiently prioritises nutrient density and crudely penalises fats, resulting in “many absurdities.”
Coupled with growing resistance from an expanding coalition of member states, this scientific critique ultimately contributed to the European Commission dropping Nutri-Score from its agenda last year, with the label omitted from the EU executive’s new “Vision for Agriculture” and work programme. However, with certain major retailers still firmly backing Nutri-Score, the EU must now move proactively to advance policies that deliver meaningful improvements in nutrition and lifestyle outcomes.
Building a new model for nutritional health
Crucially, the Commission should see the abandonment of Nutri-Score as a chance to pivot toward a serious, evidence-driven response to Europe’s obesity and overweight crisis. More than half of adults in the EU are now overweight, and childhood obesity has risen sharply over the past two decades, with particularly steep increases in lower-income communities. The consequences for cardiovascular health, diabetes and public health budgets are profound, making unhealthy diets a structural threat to Europe’s long-term wellbeing.
Addressing this issue requires moving beyond top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions like labelling schemes. Physical activity must become a central pillar of policy, supported by meaningful investment in local sports infrastructure and safe, accessible spaces to move. Nutrition education should also be strengthened from an early age, equipping children and parents alike with practical knowledge about food, portion sizes and nutrient balance. At the same time, innovation should be encouraged through the development of personalised nutrition apps that reflect individual health profiles rather than abstract averages.
Above all, people must be empowered, not directed. Consumers need the tools and understanding to make informed choices based on their own circumstances, preferences and medical needs. Paired interventions that combine education with real opportunities for exercise – especially in disadvantaged areas where childhood obesity is rising fastest – offer a far more sustainable path. In short, Europe’s strategy should focus on enabling healthier lifestyles, not prescribing them from above.
As obesity and diet-related illness accelerate across Europe, policymakers must therefore resist the comfort of simplistic labels and focus on what truly changes health outcomes. Nutri-Score’s steady retreat exposes a deeper truth that European food producers are increasingly realising: symbolic fixes cannot solve the continent’s complex nutrition crisis.
