Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team (EREN), Sorbonne Paris Nord University/INSERM U1153/INRAE U1125/CNAM, Epidemiology and Statistics Research Center, University of Paris (CRESS), Paris, France.
Centre de Recherche Réseaux, Innovation, Territoire et Mondialisation (RITM), Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France.
Int J Health Policy Manag. 2022 Dec 6;11(11):2574-2587. doi: 10.34172/ijhpm.2022.6127. Epub 2022 Feb 20.
Front-of-pack nutrition labels (FoPLs) aim at increasing transparency and consumers' awareness of the nutritional composition of pre-packed food products in order to improve the nutritional quality of their food choices. Nevertheless, the legitimacy of the Nutri-Score - the FoPL officially adopted in France and several other European countries - is subject to both technical and political controversy, particularly in Italy. In this study, we investigated how and by whom the legitimacy of the Nutri-Score, recognized by several institutional authorities, could be deconstructed within a specific system of norms, values and beliefs among Italian stakeholders.
A netnography completed with qualitative interviews with eight Italian and French nutrition and public health experts were carried out to highlight the dimensions (pragmatic, normative and cognitive) in which the Nutri-Score's legitimacy is being challenged among the stakeholders involved in FoPLs' implementation in Italy. The degree of influence and the position of these stakeholders on the debate around the Nutri-Score were assessed through the Stakeholder Theory (SHT), using their respective level of power, legitimacy and urgency. Furthermore, we compared the Italian and the French contexts on the issue.
The direct implication of political parties and media outlets in framing the Italian debate around Nutri-Score as well as the high influence of corporate unions, led to a different political outcome than in France. Results also show that the deconstruction of the legitimacy of the Nutri-Score in Italy pertained mainly to its pragmatic dimension according to the Italian public health experts. Nevertheless, its two other dimensions (normative and cognitive) are also questioned by high-influence stakeholders.
Due to the limited mobilization of scientific expertise over the issue, the debate in Italy stayed centered around the "attack" of the Nutri-Score to the Italian way of life, mixing up concepts such as Made in Italy products and the Mediterranean diet.
预包装食品营养标签（ FoPLs）旨在提高消费者对预包装食品营养成分的认识，以改善其食品选择的营养质量。然而， Nutri-Score 的合法性——该标签已在法国和其他几个欧洲国家正式采用——受到了技术和政治争议的双重影响，尤其是在意大利。在这项研究中，我们调查了在意大利的利益相关者特定的规范、价值观和信仰体系中， Nutri-Score 的合法性是如何被解构的，以及由谁来解构。
我们进行了网络民族志研究，并对 8 名意大利和法国的营养和公共卫生专家进行了定性访谈，以突出 Nutri-Score 在意大利实施 FoPLs 的利益相关者中受到挑战的合法性维度（实用、规范和认知）。通过利益相关者理论（SHT）评估这些利益相关者在 Nutri-Score 辩论中的影响力和立场，考虑到他们各自的权力、合法性和紧迫性。此外，我们还比较了意大利和法国在这一问题上的情况。
政党和媒体直接参与构建意大利围绕 Nutri-Score 的辩论，以及企业联盟的高影响力，导致了与法国不同的政治结果。研究结果还表明，意大利对 Nutri-Score 合法性的解构主要涉及其实用性维度，根据意大利公共卫生专家的说法。然而，其另外两个维度（规范性和认知性）也受到了高影响力利益相关者的质疑。
由于对这一问题的科学专业知识的动员有限，意大利的辩论仍然集中在 Nutri-Score 对意大利生活方式的“攻击”上，混淆了意大利制造产品和地中海饮食等概念。
