Nestlé and Tyson team up with scientists on issuing environmental scores on food packaging

Nestlé and Tyson Foods are collaborating with supermarkets and scientists to launch a new non-profit organization dubbed Foundation Earth, which will issue environmental scores on food products in the packagings.

M&S, Sainsbury’s, the Co-op, and Spanish supermarket Eroski joined as part of the Foundation’s industry advisory group.

Foundation Earth aims to provide consumers with more sustainable purchasing choices and promote food producers' more environmentally friendly innovation.

The Foundation’s scientific committee to be chaired by Professor Chris Elliott includes Spanish research agency Azti’s Saioa Ramos, Oxford University’s Joseph Poore, and Leuven University’s Christophe Matthys.

In its pilot launch this autumn, UK food producers will start adding front-of-pack environmental scores to packages.

Nestlé is also funding a nine-month research and development (R&D) program to prepare the Foundation for a full rollout in Europe next year.

The Foundation will bring together two systems for measuring the individual food product's environmental impact.

These are the traffic light-style system developed by Oxford University with the support of WWF and the R&D program that combined that method with a system devised by an EU-funded consortium of Leuven University and Azti.

Andy Zynga, chief executive of the EU-funded food innovation initiative, EIT Food, said that the launch of Foundation Earth will bring about a credible and clear food product environmental labeling across Europe.

Johannes Weber, European affairs manager at Nestlé, added it will provide the opportunity to test environmental footprint methodologies, determine product performance, and ascertain consumer response.