Med-Index from Farm to Fork: A Food Product Labelling System to Promote Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Encouraging Producers to Make Healthier and More Sustainable Food Products

Abstract

Currently, there is an increasing demand of transparency in food labelling in line with the consumers concern about food origin and composition. In the recent years, several food indexes have been developed to promote healthy diet as an affordable way to prevent chronic diseases. The Mediterranean diet is recognized as one of the healthiest dietary regimen related to a low incidence of mortality from cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases; anyway, a complete index quantifying the Mediteraneaness of foods is still evanescent. Identifying a uniform labelling system, valid in all EU countries and able to promote healthy lifestyle, is the current European challenge. This article deals with the development of the Mediterranean Index (MI), which may definitely estimate the Mediterraneaness degree of food. In particular MI, which simultaneously accounts nutritional and sustainability features of foods, may constitute an objective reference for using the “Mediterraneaness” label on food products; moreover, it can ultimately define the link to the Mediterranean diet encouraging producers to make healthier and more sustainable food products. Growing consumer willingness of eating healthy foods promoting well-being represents a conscious choice which could favor the diffusion of the precision nutrition principles.

Keywords

• from field to consumers
• Mediterranean diet
• healthy eating choices
• disease prevention
• sustainable production
• nutrition and sustainability label