IRELAND – Kerry, a world leader in taste and nutrition, has launched a new digital tool that will support manufacturers to optimize the nutritional profile of products while being aware of the various front-of-pack regulations.

KerryNutri Guide has been launched in response to the need to promote healthier diets globally amid a changing regulatory environment.

Globally, governments are introducing taxes and restrictions on products that are high in fat, sugar, and salt to combat health issues and noncommunicable diseases that place considerable burdens on public resources.

At the same time, manufacturers have the challenge of creating great-tasting products that still meet these guidelines.

KerryNutri Guide can measure food and beverages across a wide range of front-of-pack nutrition labeling systems and guide the user to a better score.

Using data entered by the user, the tool calculates the product’s energy, saturated fat, sugar, fiber, protein, and salt content and then displays the nutrient score of each input, showing areas that are close to or exceeding a regulatory or dietary threshold.

A recent Action on Salt and Share Action report flagged “misleading” nutrition labels across Kerry’s home market in the UK, calling for tighter regulations on sugar, salt, and fat.

With regulations varying globally, KerryNutri Guide offers regional insights and uses the data to replicate on-pack labels used in the EU, Brazil, the UK, Mexico, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

For example, it will show the HFSS score of the product for the UK market and can also display what sugar taxes apply for each region for beverages.

In addition, the tool simulates what nutritional claims can make on the pack, whether the product is low in fat, sugar, or salt, or is a source of fiber or protein.

Kerry global chief science and technology officer Albert McQuaid said that in the past five years, the most significant increase in nutrition restrictions and tax implementations to tackle obesity had occurred.

He added: “Today over 40 countries worldwide use a front-of-pack nutrition label and this can be challenging for companies who have products that are sold in multiple markets. KerryNutri Guide measures products against the various front-of-pack requirements while also demonstrating how improving the nutritional profile can improve their score.”

“It can be incredibly challenging for companies who sell products in multiple countries to understand exactly how these labeling systems will appear on their product. Using KerryNutri Guide, we can innovate with customers to create products that meet challenges such as sugar taxes, sodium reduction targets, and comprehensive nutritional profile models.”

Furthermore, by partnering with Kerry, manufacturers can use the scoring model to identify areas for reformulation and innovation.

McQuaid explained that Kerry has a broad range of technologies that can support reformulation as well as leading insights to support manufacturers in a challenging environment.

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