Why do oils and fats often get a low rating?

Oils, butter and margarine are almost entirely made of fat, so Mira places them in a dedicated "fats" category when assessing nutritional quality. Their rating follows Nutri-Score principles, adapted to this product type.

What matters most here is the share of saturated fat — not just how much fat a product contains, but how much of it is saturated. The higher that share, the stricter the nutritional assessment.

Butter and many animal fats are especially rich in saturated fat, which is why they often land in the lower bands — "Poor" or "Bad". Saturated fats do have a role in the body, but eating too much of them is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and modern diets already tend to contain more than enough.

Plant oils with a larger share of unsaturated fat (olive oil, for example) tend to be assessed more gently, all else being equal. The final band is also shaped by any additives in the composition and by a verified organic certification.

The rating is Mira's opinion. The words "Excellent", "Good", "Poor" and "Bad" refer to the rating, not to the product itself.