Is FOP Nutrition Label Nutri-Score Well Understood by Consumers When Comparing the Nutritional Quality of Added Fats, and Does It Negatively Impact the Image of Olive Oil?

Abstract

It has been suggested that the current ranking of olive oil by Nutri-Score (C) is not in line with its nutritional quality and could have a negative impact on the sales and consumption of olive oil, especially compared to other added fats with lower nutritional qualities One of the objectives of this study is to investigate consumers’ understanding of Nutri-Score when comparing the nutritional quality of added fats, and to test whether or not Nutri-Score has a negative impact on the image and the choice of olive oil in a sample of Spanish consumers. A cross-sectional study of 486 Spanish adults (mean age ± SD: 45.8 ± 14.0 years; 48.6% women) was conducted. Subjects were recruited through a web panel provider to participate in an online questionnaire. Almost 80% of participants declared that Nutri-Score was useful for recognizing the differences in nutritional quality between the eight added fats presented in the study; 89.1% rightly identified that olive oil was among the added fats with the best nutritional quality (vs. 4.1% for rapeseed oil (Nutri-Score C), and less than 3% for other added fats (Nutri-Score D or E)). When asked about which added fat they would buy more frequently, 86.2% of participants selected olive oil. Then, after being reminded that among added fats, the Nutri-Score C given to olive oil was the best grade, a majority of participants declared that they would keep consuming olive oil as much as before (71.4%). Finally, almost 78% of participants thought that Nutri-Score should be displayed on olive oil. In conclusion, the results of our study suggest that displaying Nutri-Score on olive oil was well accepted and understood by a large majority of participants who appeared to accept the current ranking of the Nutri-Score for olive oil (Nutri-Score C).