• FinishingDutch@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    In the Netherlands and a few other countries we have the Nutri-Score

    https://www.rivm.nl/en/food-and-nutrition/nutri-score

    This ranks a food from A (best) to E (worst) based on how well it fits into the dietary guidelines.

    Important thing to note: it’s a ranking that compares foods in that same group. So it’s not ‘vegetables are A, pizza is E’, but rather ‘this Doritos has less salt than this bag of Lay’s’.

    Now, this effectively caused companies to make their products blander in order to avoid a worse score. It also happened to save them money - you use fewer ingredients.

    End result: chips now appear healthier because they have a better score… while also tasting like cardboard.

    And how did that go over with consumers? See article. And you can read numerous complaints about it on social media.

    Ironically, this also means that the Nutri-Score sorta works. Why eat chips when they are tasteless? 😂

    • qevlarr@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Alright, I thought you were saying evil EU laws make our food suck but it’s actually good old corporate decisions to maximize profit. I’m Dutch as well so I know about nutriscore. I don’t see that clear line between an advisory traffic light system on packaging and Lay’s making potato chips worse than they already were. It’s up to Lay’s, don’t blame the nutriscore.

    • FG_3479@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      I bet it will become like the Parental Guidance symbol. People will buy products with a low Nutri-Score because that (for junk food) symbolises quality.

    • Katana314@lemmy.worldOP
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      6 days ago

      I remember one chef giving the very specific critique that America doesn’t add nearly enough salt to its foods. Seems that’s a very tense cultural thing.

      • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        Wow something we’re actually getting right here. How salty things taste to you adjusts over time depending on what your normal level is. And salt is super bad for you.