National nutrition policies play a pivotal role in promoting healthier dietary choices and reducing the consumption of unhealthy foods, thereby contributing to improved public health outcomes. Understanding their scope and implementation is essential for guiding regional health policies and strategies to improve food systems.
Methods: We conducted a scoping review to map national-level nutrition policies, legislation, and regulatory instruments related to food production, labeling, marketing, pricing, and consumption across 31 European countries. We systematically searched PubMed, Scopus, FAOLEX, Google, and the Global Database on the Implementation of Food and Nutrition Action for records published between 2014 and 2024. Policy actions were categorized according to the NOURISHING framework.
Results: Out of 6,299 screened records, we identified 379 national food and nutrition policy actions. Finland, France, Spain, and Sweden showed the broadest domain coverage, with policy actions identified in nine or more of the 10 NOURISHING policy areas, whereas Cyprus, Poland, and Latvia showed limited coverage, with five or fewer areas represented. The most regulated domain was food supply chain governance (32%), followed by nutritional quality of the whole food supply (19%) and labeling (15%). In contrast, the integration of nutrition services in healthcare settings (1%), and the use of economic incentives (1%), were underrepresented.
Conclusion: European countries showed marked variation in the adoption of nutrition policies. While progress has been made in food safety and information provision, significant gaps remain in behavior-shaping policies. These disparities may reinforce existing health inequalities. Coordinated EU-level strategies, stronger enforcement mechanisms, and broader uptake of evidence-based interventions are needed to support a more equitable and effective transformation of food systems across the region.
