Front of pack nutrition labelling: between marketing and public health policies

The increase of the evidences that link some dietary factors to the development of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease, has generated numerous strategies to guide the food selection of the consumer. The front of pack nutrition labelling is an initiative to present concise and clear nutritional information. There are currently different systems of front of pack nutrition labelling; some include symbols, while others include numerical scores or graphic schemes to communicate the overall nutritional quality of a food product. This diversity of systems creates confusion in the consumer because each system has different nutritional criteria. Currently, there is no single, generally accepted system to a global level. A proposal for the design of the front of pack labeling is to select the nutrients that are considered priorities in the light of local public health, either because their consumption is excessive or because the population has deficiencies, but also taking into account what is understandable by the consumer.