Nutritional rating systems are methods of ranking or rating food products or food categories to communicate the nutritional value of food in a simplified manner to a target audience. Rating systems are developed by governments, nonprofit organizations, or private institutions and companies.

The methods may use point systems to rank or rate foods for general nutritional value or they may rate specific food attributes such as cholesterol content. Graphics or other symbols may be used to communicate the ratings to the target audience.

Nutritional rating systems differ from nutritional labeling in that they attempt to simplify food choices, rather than listing specific amounts of nutrients or ingredients. Dietary guidelines are similar to nutritional rating systems in that they attempt to simplify the communication of nutritional information, however, they do not rate individual food products.

Glycemic index

Glycemic index

Glycemic index

The glycemic index, glycaemic index, or GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and release glucose rapidly into the bloodstream have a high GI; carbohydrates that break down more slowly, releasing glucose more...

 is a ranking of how quickly food is metabolized into glucose when digested. It compares available carbohydrates gram for gram in individual foods, providing a numerical, evidence-based index of postprandial (post-meal) glycemia. The concept was invented by Dr. David J. Jenkins and colleagues in 1981 at the University of Toronto.

Guiding Stars

Guiding Stars is a nutrition guidance program that rates all edible products in the store. It utilizes an evidence based proprietary algorithm that was developed by a Scientific Advisory Panel, a group of experts in the fields of nutrition and health from Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Tufts University, University of North Carolina and other colleges. The nutrition guidance program first launched a Hannaford Supermarkets in 2006, and is currently in more than 1,500 stores including Hannaford, Sweetbay, Food Lion and Kings Super Market (Fall 2010). Guiding Stars also expanded to public school districts and college dining facilities and partnered with ReachEverywhere’s Shopper iPhone application.

Guiding Stars utilizes an evidence-based proprietary algorithm that is grounded in the current dietary guidelines and recommendations of leading national and international regulatory and health organizations such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

 (FDA), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the World Health Organization

World Health Organization

The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...

 (WHO). The system assigns zero, one, two, or three stars to food products based on the nutritional value. Products with more vitamins, minerals, fiber, and whole grains get more stars. Products with more saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, added sodium, or added sugars get fewer stars.

Nutripoints

Nutripoints is a system for rating foods on a numerical scale for their overall nutritional value. The method is based on an analysis of 26 positive (such as vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber) and negative factors (such as cholesterol, saturated fat, sugar, sodium) compared to the calories in the food. The overall Nutripoint score of the food is the result. The higher the value, the more nutrition per calorie (nutrient density) and the least negative factors in the food. Thus, the higher the Nutripoint score, the better the food for overall health. The system rates 3600+ foods including basic foods like apples and oranges, fast-foods, and brand-name foods.

Nutripoints was developed by Dr. Roy E. Vartabedian (a Doctor of Public Health) in the 1980s and was released to the general public in 1990 with his book, "Nutripoints," published in 13 countries and 10 languages worldwide. The food rating system is part of an overall program designed to help people measure, balance, and upgrade their diet's nutritional quality for overall health improvement and well-being.

Nutrition iQ

The Nutrition iQ program is a joint venture of the Joslin Clinic and multi-banner supermarket operator Supervalu

SuperValu

SuperValu or Supervalu is a name used by grocery chains in multiple countries:* SuperValu * SuperValu * SuperValu * See also SuperValue, supervalue...

. The labeling system consists of color-coded tags denoting a food product's superior status with respect to attributes such as vitamin and mineral content, fiber content, 100% juice content, Omega-3 or low saturated fat content, whole grain content, calcium content, protein content, low or reduced sodium content and low or reduced caloric content. The first phase of the program launched in 2009 covering center store food products, with coverage of fresh food departments rolling out in 2011.

NuVal

The NuVal Nutritional Scoring System is a joint venture formed in 2008 by Topco Associates, LLC, and Griffin Hospital of Derby, Conn., a non-profit community hospital and home to the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center. The team worked for two years to develop the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), a patent-pending algorithm which converts complex nutritional information into a single, easy-to-use score. The ONQI algorithm is now the scientific engine behind the NuVal System. It looks at over 30 factors to determine the score, including the calorie density and Omega-3 content.

The NuVal System scores food on a scale of 1-100. The higher the NuVal Score, the better the nutrition. NuVal Scores are displayed directly on shelf price tags, so shoppers can compare overall nutrition the same way they compare prices. Just look for the NuVal System’s double-hexagon emblem and 1-100 food score on shelf tags. Some of the country’s leading grocery chains feature the NuVal System in their stores including Amigos, Bel Air, Big Y, Brookshire's, City Market, Coborn's, Festival, Food City, HyVee, King Kullen, King Soopers, Lowes Foods, Mariano's, Market Street, Meijer, Metro Market, Nob Hill, Price Chopper, Raley's, Scolari's, Super 1 Foods, Tops Markets, and United.

POINTS Food System

Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers is an international company that offers various dieting products and services to assist weight loss and maintenance. Founded in 1963 by Brooklyn homemaker Jean Nidetch, it operates in about 30 countries around the world, generally under names that are local translations of “Weight...

 developed the POINTS Food System for use with their Flex Plan. Healthy weight control is the primary objective of the system. The system is designed to allow customers to eat any food while tracking the number of points for each food consumed. Members try to keep to their POINTS Target, a number of points for a given time frame. The daily POINTS Target is personalized based on members' height, weight and other factors, such as gender. A weekly allowance for points is also established to provide for special occasions, mistakes, etc.

Smart Choices Program

Launched late in 2009, the Smart Choices Program was a rating system developed by a coalition of companies from the food industry. The criteria for rating food products used 18 different attributes, however, the system had varying levels of acceptability based on 16 types of food which allowed for wide discretion in the selection of foods to include in the program. The program was discontinued in October 2009 after sharp criticism for including products such as "Froot Loops", "Lucky Charms" and "Frosted Flakes" as Smart Choices. As a consequence of the backlash from the program, General Mills

General Mills

General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...

 announced on December 10, 2009 that it would reduce the amount of sugar in many of its cereal brands.

See also

Main list: List of basic nutrition topics

Biology: Digestion Digestion Digestion is the mechanical and chemical breakdown of food into smaller components that are more easily absorbed into a blood stream, for instance. Digestion is a form of catabolism: a breakdown of large food molecules to smaller ones.... Enzyme Enzyme Enzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates... Dangers of poor nutrition Cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease Heart disease or cardiovascular disease are the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels . While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis... Diabetes Eating disorders Illnesses related to poor nutrition Illnesses related to poor nutrition Nutritional diseases are diseases in humans that are directly or indirectly caused by a lack of essential nutrients in the diet. Nutritional diseases are commonly associated with chronic malnutrition. Additionally, conditions such as obesity from overeating can also cause, or contribute to, serious... Obesity Obesity Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems... Childhood obesity Childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or wellbeing. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse health effects... Starvation Starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death... Food: 5 A Day 5 A Day 5 A Day is the name of a number of programs in countries such as the USA, the United Kingdom and Germany, to encourage the consumption of at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, following requests by the World Health Organization to consume at least 400g of vegetables daily.In... Canada's Food Guide Fast Food Fast food Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a... Food groups Food groups A food group is a collection of foods that share similar nutritional properties or biological classifications. Nutrition guides typically divide foods into food groups and recommend daily servings of each group for a healthy diet.-Common food groups:... Fruit Fruit In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,... s Functional food Functional food Functional food is a food where a new ingredient has been added to a food and the new product has a new function .... Grain GRAIN GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and... s Junk Food Junk food Junk food is an informal term applied to some foods that are perceived to have little or no nutritional value ; to products with nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when regularly eaten; or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all... Vegetable Vegetable The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant.... s

Healthy diet Healthy diet A healthy diet is one that helps maintain or improve general health. It is important for lowering many chronic health risks, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer. A healthy diet involves consuming appropriate amounts of all essential nutrients and an adequate amount of... : Dieting Dieting Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight. In most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese. Some athletes, however, follow a diet to gain weight... Eating Eating Eating is the ingestion of food to provide for all organisms their nutritional needs, particularly for energy and growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive: carnivores eat other animals, herbivores eat plants, omnivores consume a mixture of both plant and animal matter,... Healthy eating pyramid Healthy eating pyramid The healthy eating pyramid is a nutrition guide developed by the Harvard School of Public Health, suggesting how much of each food category one should eat each day... Lists: Diets (list) List of food additives List of illnesses related to poor nutrition List of life extension related topics List of publications in nutrition List of unrefined sweeteners Nutrient Nutrient A nutrient is a chemical that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment. They are used to build and repair tissues, regulate body processes and are converted to and used as energy... s: Carbohydrate Carbohydrate A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical... s Dietary mineral Dietary mineral Dietary minerals are the chemical elements required by living organisms, other than the four elements carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen present in common organic molecules. Examples of mineral elements include calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, and iodine... s Essential minerals Dietary supplement Dietary supplement A dietary supplement, also known as food supplement or nutritional supplement, is a preparation intended to supplement the diet and provide nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, that may be missing or may not be consumed in sufficient quantities in a person's diet... s Essential nutrient Essential nutrient An essential nutrient is a nutrient required for normal body functioning that either cannot be synthesized by the body at all, or cannot be synthesized in amounts adequate for good health , and thus must be obtained from a dietary source... s Fat Fat Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure... Essential fatty acid Essential fatty acid Essential fatty acids, or EFAs, are fatty acids that humans and other animals must ingest because the body requires them for good health but cannot synthesize them... s Macronutrients Micronutrient Micronutrient Micronutrients are nutrients required by humans and other living things throughout life in small quantities to orchestrate a whole range of physiological functions, but which the organism itself cannot produce. For people, they include dietary trace minerals in amounts generally less than 100... s Nootropic Nootropic Nootropics , also referred to as smart drugs, brain steroids, memory enhancers, cognitive enhancers, and intelligence enhancers, are drugs, supplements, nutraceuticals, and functional foods that improve mental functions such as cognition, memory, intelligence, motivation, attention, and concentration... s Nutraceutical Nutraceutical Nutraceutical, a portmanteau of the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical”, is a food or food product that reportedly provides health and medical benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease. Health Canada defines the term as "a product isolated or purified from foods that is... s

Phytochemicals Protein Protein Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of... Complete protein Complete protein A complete protein is a source of protein that contains an adequate proportion of all nine of the essential amino acids necessary for the dietary needs of humans or other animals... Essential amino acid Essential amino acid An essential amino acid or indispensable amino acid is an amino acid that cannot be synthesized de novo by the organism , and therefore must be supplied in the diet.-Essentiality vs. conditional essentiality in humans:... s Incomplete protein Protein combining Protein combining is the outdated theory that vegetarians, particularly vegans, must eat certain complementary foods like beans and rice together in the same meal, so that plant foods with incomplete essential amino acid content combine to form a complete protein, meeting all amino acid... Protein combining Protein combining Protein combining is the outdated theory that vegetarians, particularly vegans, must eat certain complementary foods like beans and rice together in the same meal, so that plant foods with incomplete essential amino acid content combine to form a complete protein, meeting all amino acid... Protein in nutrition Protein in nutrition Proteins are polymer chains made of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds. Proteins and carbohydrates contain 4 kcal per gram as opposed to lipids which contain 9 kcal per gram.... Vitamin Vitamin A vitamin is an organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism. In other words, an organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, and must be obtained from the diet. Thus, the term is conditional both on... s Profession: Dietitian Dietitian Dietitians supervise the preparation and service of food, develop modified diets, participate in research, and educate individuals and groups on good nutritional habits. The goals of dietitians are to provide medical nutritional intervention, and to obtain, safely prepare, serve and advise on... Nutritionist Nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health. Different professional terms are used in different countries, employment settings and contexts — some examples include: nutrition scientist, public health nutritionist, dietitian-nutritionist, clinical... Related topics Auxology Auxology Auxology, sometimes called Auxanology , is a meta-term covering the study of all aspects of human physical growth... Exercise General Fitness Training General Fitness Training General fitness training works towards broad goals of overall health and well-being, rather than narrow goals of sport competition, larger muscles or concerns over appearance... Life extension Life extension Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan... Orthomolecular medicine Orthomolecular medicine Orthomolecular medicine is a form of complementary and alternative medicine that seeks to maintain health and prevent or treat diseases by optimizing nutritional intake and/or prescribing supplements... Physical fitness Physical fitness Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...