Nutritional rating systems

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.

Systems in use today

Glycemic index

Glycemic index 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. ^[1]

Guiding Stars^SM

This is a rating system biased toward meat, poultry, seafood, dairy and nuts. It is a patent-pending system developed by consultants from Dartmouth University and employed by the Hannaford grocery store chain. The system assigns one, two, or three stars to food products based on the quantity of certain nutrients. Products with more vitamins, minerals, fiber, or whole grains get more stars. Generally, products with less saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, added sodium, or added sugar get fewer stars.

The system is biased toward meat, poultry, seafood, dairy and nuts because the nutritional value of these products are so low (based on the above criteria) that they would not receive any stars. Instead, the system puts these products in a separate category and ranks them relative to each other. The system does not communicate that these products have been separated or otherwise indicate their special treatment (although Hannaford mentions on their website that those food products are treated specially). ^[2]

Nutripoints^TM

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 1980's 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.^[3]

POINTS® Food System

WeightWatchers 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.^[4]

Main list: List of basic nutrition topics