Spain’s Iberian pork producers see red over traffic-light labelling

Spain’s Iberian pork producers are hoping their famous meats will follow in the wake of olive oil and be excused from a new traffic-light food labelling scheme, arguing it fails to take account of what they claim are the health benefits of jamón ibérico.

Spain is in the process of implementing the Nutri-Score system, which grades foods from a green A to a red E on packaging. The voluntary scheme has been billed as a way to help EU countries advance towards bloc-wide food labelling by the end of 2022 as part of the European commission’s “fair, healthy and environmentally friendly” Farm-to-Fork strategy.

But it has not been well received everywhere. Spain’s consumer affairs ministry on Monday said it was working to ensure olive oil was kept out of Nutri-Score after producers warned a yellow C rating meant that the health benefits of the oil would be rendered unclear, leading many people to assume they needed to limit their consumption.

The ministry said in a statement that olive oil was “essential to the Mediterranean diet”.

The decision was applauded by the Inter-professional Iberian Pig Association, whose members farm pigs to make products including the richly fatty and highly prized jamón ibérico. Under the Nutri-Score ratings, such products carry an orange D or red E label.

“If olive oil’s going to be exempted from the system, then we think we should be too,” a spokesman for the association told the Guardian, adding that studies had shown that Iberian pigs fed on acorns and fodder produce meats that are high in protein, B vitamins and minerals.

“The system just doesn’t offer a proper evaluation of the qualities of one of the basic products of the Mediterranean diet, which is regarded as one of the healthiest diets in the world,” he said.

“Given the scientific evidence and the nutritional and health value of things you get in Iberian pork products, we are asking that they are left out of the Nutri-Score system.”

The agriculture minister, Luis Planas, said on Monday he was concerned by the way some components of the Mediterranean diet, such as olive oil and Iberian pork, were rated by the Nutri-Score system.

“I’ll only give my agreement if products that form part of the Mediterranean diet are fairly evaluated when they appear, or are exempted,” he said.

The ministries of food and of consumer affairs have been approached for comment.