What is Nutri-Score?

Nutri-Score in brief

Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack nutrition label, and as a design style it is among the clearest examples of a regulation expressed as a graphic. A full scoring model is reduced to a single row of five rounded blocks labelled A to E, running from deep green to deep orange-red. The block that matches the product's result is pulled out of the row, enlarged, and its letter is knocked out in white.

The style that grew from it keeps to the module's own rules. The field is white, the six colours are fixed and may not be changed, the typeface is Raleway in every weight, and exactly one step on any ramp may be promoted. There are no leaf icons and no handwritten flourishes. The graphic is meant to be read in a second at a shelf, not admired.

What makes it distinctive is how little it needs. The whole information design rests on an ordered colour scale, a single enlarged element and a letter. Because it behaves like a public-health signal rather than a brand, it shows how a rigorous system can communicate a verdict instantly and still look orderly, calm and fair.

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Where does Nutri-Score come from?

Nutri-Score entered the world as French public policy. A French decree of 31 October 2017 set up the label, which was developed from a scoring model produced by the team of the nutritional epidemiologist Serge Hercberg. The source also names Santé publique France, the national public-health agency, among the key figures. From the start, the graphic was meant to be a state-backed signal that could be placed on any food package and understood by anyone, whatever their education or language.

The label then spread beyond France. According to the source, it was adopted across seven countries between 2018 and 2021, which gave the design an international life and made consistency important. A mark that appears in several markets cannot afford variations, and that is why the style insists on fixed colours, a single typeface and exactly one enlarged step. Those constraints are the price of a recognisable, trustworthy symbol.

The source places Nutri-Score within three lines of development. The first is front-of-pack nutrition labelling, the movement to put a simple judgement where shoppers look first, instead of leaving all information in tables on the back. The second is graded, colour-coded public-health signalling, in which an ordered colour scale replaces a list of numbers. The third is the traffic-light label lineage, an earlier model that used red, amber and green. Nutri-Score extends that tradition by adding letters and five levels.

The UK Food Standards Agency is named among the key figures, reflecting that traffic-light labelling had a British history that fed the discussion. Together with Hercberg's research team and Santé publique France, the list shows a style created by public institutions and scientists, not by advertisers. That is the source of its character: it is plain on purpose, it avoids promotional flourishes, and it prefers legibility and neutrality to personality. Its strength lies in being understood, and a designer who respects that will keep the module intact.

What defines the Nutri-Score look?

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Who shaped Nutri-Score?

How do you use Nutri-Score today?

For slides, the Nutri-Score style is excellent for a verdict slide. Place a row of five rounded blocks on white, enlarge the one that matches your result and knock out its letter. A cover can be as simple as the title above a single ramp. Comparisons between options work well as stacked ramps, each with one enlarged step, so the audience sees ranking at a glance.

For web and app interfaces, use the style for anything that grades or ranks: energy ratings, security scores, repair or sustainability indices, risk levels, quality tiers. Keep the ramp as a reusable component with fixed colours and only one promoted step. Put a short plain-language explanation under the label, and let the enlarged grade link to the criteria. A pricing page can use grades for features or support levels, as long as the colours keep their meaning.

For editorial and marketing pages, the style adds credibility to comparison articles, product guides, consumer tests and public information. A white page with a single ramp and short factual text feels impartial. It also works as a poster or infographic where a message must be received in seconds, such as a shelf talker or a campaign for healthy choices.

The deeper lesson is useful beyond food: when a complex model must be summarised for the public, an ordered colour scale, one highlighted element and a letter are often enough. Doing so shows respect for the audience's time.

The most common mistake is to modify the module: changing the colours to fit a brand palette, enlarging two blocks, adding leaf icons or a handwritten font, or placing it on a busy photograph. Each of these destroys the guarantee that the label means the same thing everywhere. Another mistake is using the green-to-red ramp for items that are not ranked from good to bad, which causes viewers to read a verdict that was never intended. Finally, do not hide the letter; the letter lets colour-blind readers understand the grade.

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Nutri-Score — FAQ