Lactalis’ challenge to Nutri-Score to go before top EU court

Lactalis has confirmed the French Council of State has referred the dairy giant’s challenge to the Nutri-Score labelling system to the EU’s top court.

Privately-owned Lactalis informed Just Food the company filed an appeal with the French Council of State, or Conseil d’État, in September 2025 after its government amended the methodology for Nutri-Score in March of that year.

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The maker of Parmalat and Galbani cheese is seeking to annul that decree, arguing the new algorithm does not conform with EU law – the INCO Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.

Lactalis’ appeal has now gone before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the Laval, Pays-de-la-Loire-headquartered group confirmed.

France’s amendments in 2025 were made in an effort to help consumers better understand the nutritional value of products based on the front-of-pack Nutri-Score system, which uses colour-coded rankings from A to E.

The rules for calculating the scores for certain products were revised by France, which set up the system in 2017 at the behest of the Ministry of Health, to reflect scientific advances and nutritional guidelines.

Nutri-Score remains a voluntary system in the EU countries that have adopted it – France, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

However, France has been pushing the European Commission to make Nutri-Score mandatory across member states, with its latest attempt in November. Just Food has asked Lactalis for an update on those proceedings.

In a statement provided to Just Food, the French dairy giant said: “Lactalis encourages a healthy, balanced and varied diet, supported by clear and accessible information that reflects consumers’ habits.”

It added the Conseil d’État has “decided to stay the proceedings and refer a question to the Court of Justice of the European Union regarding the interpretation of the relevant EU regulatory provisions. The proceedings will therefore continue at the European level.”

Asked for clarification, a Lactalis spokesperson highlighted the mandatory element relating to the new algorithm.

“France sought to adopt national measures to make the Nutri-Score front-of-pack labelling mandatory. However, nutritional information provided to consumers is governed by the EU’s INCO Regulation. This was the key point we aimed to reaffirm.”

The amendments made in March last year included oils with a lower saturated fatty acid content such as olive, rapeseed or walnut oils, would be rated B and no longer C.

Water was the only drink ranked A. Drinks with sweeteners went from a B rating to be ranked from C to E.

The scores for milk, flavoured and sweetened milks, drinkable yogurts and plant-based drinks are now calculated using the drinks algorithm.

Lactalis peer Danone has withdrawn from the system, claiming “a major inconsistency” as revisions to the code placed dairy and plant-based beverages in the same category as soft drinks.

Nestlé said last year it would start removing the labels in Switzerland for certain products due to declining usage but would continue with the system elsewhere in Europe.

Meanwhile, Portugal pulled back from introducing the labels in 2024, claiming Nutri-Score could lead to “confusing classifications”. Similarly, Italy concluded in 2022 that the labelling criteria could be construed as misleading.

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