title: Discriminating nutritional quality of foods using the 5-Color nutrition label in the French food market: consistency with nutritional recommendations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our objectives were to assess the performance of the 5-Colour nutrition label (5-CNL) front-of-pack nutrition label based on the Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system to discriminate nutritional quality of foods currently on the market in France and its consistency with French nutritional recommendations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nutritional composition of 7777 foods available on the French market collected from the web-based collaborative project Open Food Facts were retrieved. Distribution of products across the 5-CNL categories according to food groups, as arranged in supermarket shelves was assessed. Distribution of similar products from different brands in the 5-CNL categories was also assessed. Discriminating performance was considered as the number of color categories present in each food group. In the case of discrepancies between the category allocation and French nutritional recommendations, adaptations of the original score were proposed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the distribution of foodstuffs in the 5-CNL categories was consistent with French recommendations: 95.4% of 'Fruits and vegetables', 72.5% of 'Cereals and potatoes' were classified as 'Green' or 'Yellow' whereas 86.0% of 'Sugary snacks' were classified as 'Pink' or 'Red'. Adaptations to the original FSA score computation model were necessary for beverages, added fats and cheese in order to be consistent with French official nutritional recommendations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 5-CNL label displays a high performance in discriminating nutritional quality of foods across food groups, within a food group and for similar products from different brands. Adaptations from the original model were necessary to maintain consistency with French recommendations and high performance of the system.
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 13, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (EREN), Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Statistiques, Inserm (U1153), Inra(U1125), Cnam, COMUE Sorbonne Paris Cité, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, F-93017, Bobigny, France. c.julia@uren.smbh.univ-paris13.fr.|Département de Santé Publique, Hôpital Avicenne (AP-HP), F-93017, Bobigny, France. c.julia@uren.smbh.univ-paris13.fr.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Julia
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 13, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (EREN), Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Statistiques, Inserm (U1153), Inra(U1125), Cnam, COMUE Sorbonne Paris Cité, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, F-93017, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ducrot
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 13, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (EREN), Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Statistiques, Inserm (U1153), Inra(U1125), Cnam, COMUE Sorbonne Paris Cité, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, F-93017, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Péneau
authors.affiliation: Unité de Surveillance et d'Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (USEN), Institut de Veille Sanitaire, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Deschamps
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 13, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (EREN), Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Statistiques, Inserm (U1153), Inra(U1125), Cnam, COMUE Sorbonne Paris Cité, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, F-93017, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Méjean
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 13, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (EREN), Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Statistiques, Inserm (U1153), Inra(U1125), Cnam, COMUE Sorbonne Paris Cité, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, F-93017, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Léopold
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fézeu
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 13, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (EREN), Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Statistiques, Inserm (U1153), Inra(U1125), Cnam, COMUE Sorbonne Paris Cité, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, F-93017, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Touvier
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 13, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (EREN), Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Statistiques, Inserm (U1153), Inra(U1125), Cnam, COMUE Sorbonne Paris Cité, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, F-93017, Bobigny, France.|Département de Santé Publique, Hôpital Avicenne (AP-HP), F-93017, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hercberg
authors.affiliation: Université Paris 13, Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle (EREN), Centre de Recherche en Epidémiologie et Statistiques, Inserm (U1153), Inra(U1125), Cnam, COMUE Sorbonne Paris Cité, 74 rue Marcel Cachin, F-93017, Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kesse-Guyot
mesh_terms: D001628:Beverages; D002611:Cheese; D002523:Edible Grain; D005515:Food Labeling; D005602:France; D005638:Fruit; D009753:Nutritive Value; D009754:Nuts; D064167:Recommended Dietary Allowances; D014675:Vegetables