Overview of Europe’s front-of-pack labelling schemes beyond Nutri-Score
- Nutri-Score harmonisation across EU member states appears increasingly unlikely
- Italy’s NutrInform Battery presents nutrient data without interpretive scoring
- UK and Ireland use traffic lights, highlighting nutrient levels
- Nordic Keyhole and Finland’s Heart symbol endorse healthier choices
- Croatia and Slovenia operate endorsement labels with specific criteria
Once, it was expected that Nutri-Score, a front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme used by many European countries, would be made mandatory across the continent.
Yet this is no longer the case. In 2025, the European Commission refused to commit to this, and as of now, there is little indication that use of Nutri-Score will indeed be harmonised across the EU’s 27 Member States.
This leaves a range of other European front-of-pack labelling schemes in place. What are they, and how do they work?
NutrInform Battery – Italy
The NutrInform Battery was created in 2020 by Italy as an alternative to Nutri-Score, which the southern European country strongly opposes, suggesting it discriminates against traditional Italian foods.
NutrInform Battery displays a product’s content of energy, fats, saturated fats, sugars and salt per serving, as well as how much each corresponds to the daily recommended intake of said ingredient. It is monochrome and does not provide colours to denote healthiness or lack thereof.
While Nutri-Score is interpretive, meaning that its algorithm interprets nutritional information and provides a nutritional score for each product, NutrInform Battery is non-interpretive, meaning it simply presents the data.
In terms of consumers understanding of nutritional content, Nutri-Score has been found by several studies to outperform NutrInform Battery. However, a 2024 study suggested that NutrInform Battery may be better at helping consumers with special nutritional needs, such as those with suboptimal blood pressure, choose the right foods for their diets.
Traffic light system – UK and Ireland
The Multiple Traffic Light system is the front-of-pack labelling scheme used in the UK and Ireland.
For key ingredients, including energy, fat, saturates, sugar and salt, the label informs consumers whether the product in question has high, medium or low levels of said ingredient, using red for high, amber for medium and green for low.
A study of five front-of-pack labelling schemes asked participants to rank foods by nutritional content, using these schemes for guidance. It found that the Multiple Traffic Light system was second only to Nutri-Score in association with accurate rankings.
Keyhole – Nordic countries and Lithuania
The Keyhole symbol is used in several European countries, including Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, and Lithuania.
The Keyhole label is a simple endorsement logo, meaning that rather than providing details on the pros and cons of a product’s nutritional quality, it simply endorses it as healthy.
The Keyhole denotes healthier foods within a group. Foods with a Keyhole logo will contain less fat, sugars and salt and more dietary fibre than others, according to Denmark’s Veterinary and Food Administration. Criteria on these ingredients are based on the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations.
The Keyhole symbol means that a food is a healthier choice compared to other foods in its category. For example, a cheese may carry a Keyhole denoting that it’s healthier than other cheeses, even though it may not be healthy compared to other food categories. Products carrying the Keyhole symbol must be accompanied by nutritional facts.
Heart symbol – Finland
Much like the Keyhole, Finland’s heart symbol is an endorsement logo and helps consumers identify whether a product is a healthier choice within its own category, with a particular focus on salt and fat (both in terms of quality and quantity). Sugar and fibre are also taken into account in some categories.
The criteria are regularly updated by the Heart Symbol group, which contains experts appointed by the Finnish Heart Association (FHA) and the Finnish Diabetes Association (FDA), the organisations that created the symbol.
Studies have shown that the majority of Finns are familiar with the heart symbol.
Healthy Living logo – Croatia
In 2015, average salt intake in Croatia was estimated to be more than double the levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In response, Croatia’s Ministry of Health, along with the Croatian Institute of Public Health, developed a strategic plan aiming to reduce salt intake by 4% a year.
One of the results of this was the Healthy Living logo. It is an endorsement logo, resembling a green cloud. According to WHO, it aims to allow consumers to identify products that are in line with a balanced diet.
It is based on recommended daily intake of nutrients set by the EU, and can be applied to both packaged and unpackaged foods.
Protective Food logo – Slovenia
Slovenia’s Protective Food logo, also known as its ‘little heart’ logo, is an endorsement label.
Its criteria are based on a combination of UK food traffic light system (with no red) to evaluate nutritional content, except for cooking oils and dairy products, where it uses other criteria. It is always presented together with a specific claim about the benefits of the food in question. One study suggested that its criteria align well with Nutri-Score for many foods.
The symbol, which was first introduced in 1992, can be found on about 2% of packaged foods in Slovenia.
