Roquefort, targeted by an unfavorable Nutri-Score classification, denounces a "
punitive approach
" and calls for an exemption for the famous sheep cheese from Aveyron, in the name of tradition and respect for a gastronomic heritage.
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The Nutri-Score, an optional labeling system, set up at the initiative of the French government in 2016, is based on five letters (A, B, C, D, E) and a color code, from green to red, according to the nutritional quality of the food.
The Nutri-Score of 90% of cheeses, including Roquefort, is D and E.
"
A simplistic logo
"
“
It's paradoxical.
Ultra processed industrial products with preservatives can have A or B, while our very natural local products are stigmatized
”, points out Sébastien Vignette, secretary general of the General Confederation of Roquefort, supported by a number of elected officials from Aveyron and 'Occitanie.
“
The public authorities plan to make the Nutri-Score compulsory from 2022, which is why we are mobilizing. We feel a feeling of injustice, we are the heirs of ancestral recipes, with specifications that guarantee quality,
”explains Sébastien Vignette. The boss of the Roquefort interprofessional organization sees Nutri-Score as a “
simplistic logo
”. “
We are living in a strange time where complexity and nuance rarely have their place,” he believes. The food balance, the history of our products, it is not that
”.
“
Between A and E, if I don't know, I naturally go towards the A. For Roquefort, it doesn't make sense.
The specifications are already an act of responsibility towards the consumer.
The best is the enemy of the good,
”said LREM deputy from Aveyron, Stéphane Mazars.
"
The desire for transparency due to the consumer must be rational and common sense
", adds the parliamentarian.
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The mobilization initiated by the PDO, which markets 7,000 tonnes of Roquefort per year, 25% of which is exported, is not isolated. The discontent expressed in Aveyron is shared by many cheese producers in France. Sébastien Vignette emphasizes that there is no "
problem of overconsumption of cheese in France
" and that Public Health France should not blacklist "
Roquefort and other PDO quality cheeses
".
“
We are not in a fight against Nutri-Score, he
insists,
if it is reserved for pre-processed industrial products.
It is commendable to inform the citizen.
We are fighting the application to PDO products
”.
Widely acclaimed by distributors and manufacturers, in a context of growing consumer demand for information, Nutri-Score is also adopted in Belgium, Spain and Germany, and it is recommended by the WHO (World Health Organization).
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