EU nutrient profiles being scrapped

Commenting on the European Parliament vote to scrap nutrient profiles, Dr Judith Bryans, chief executive of Dairy UK, says:

“This is excellent news and a welcome shift towards holistic nutrition policies in the EU. When considering nutrition and public health, it is too easy to forget that consumers do not eat nutrients, they eat foods. Unfortunately, policies which target individual nutrients often lead to a misunderstanding of the total value of whole foods. It is therefore essential to consider the nutritional impact of whole foods and their role in a healthy and balanced diet instead of singling out ‘good’ or ‘bad’ nutrients.

“Products such as fruit yogurts or hard cheeses are rich in calcium and high quality protein and provide a range of vitamins and minerals. Even so, most of them risked falling foul of a nutrient profiling scheme based on individual nutrients. Yet, a nutrient-poor product like a diet soft drink would have passed the profile although it provides no nutritional benefits whatsoever.

“We need to look at the big picture when it comes to nutrition policies and start looking at dietary patterns as a whole. Over the last few months, we worked hard to get this point across to MEPs and we are absolutely delighted by the outcome of this vote.”