Sometimes it’s hard to know what food is healthy and what isn’t. But, it just got a little easier. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) created Food Scores, a tool that rates food products and tells consumers how healthy what they’re eating really is.
Food Scores rates products on:
- Nutrition, such as saturated fat, trans fat, and sugar
- Ingredient concerns, such as the presence of pesticides and antibiotics
- Processing, such as how much a whole food has been modified
Based on this criteria, the tool determines an overall score. A lower score means it’s more healthy! You simply enter the name of a brand to see how all of its products rate, or enter a general item to see which brand is the most healthy.
Food Scores even gives recommendations for healthier alternatives. But, it gets even better. There’s a free Food Scores app for your phone. The app includes a bar code scanner, allowing you to quickly find product scores while shopping. Right now, the app is available for iPhone users and EWG says an Android version will be released in December.
Research scientist Dr. Chris D’Adamo reviewed the tool for us and explained:
“While people should always read the labels on packaged foods for basic information such as the ingredients, sugar content, and presence of hydrogenated oils, EWG’s Food Scores provides additional information that can be very useful in attaining optimal health.”
“For example, I like the fact that the ratings incorporate pesticide residues, preservatives, Bisphenol A, added (versus naturally occurring) sugars, and the general level of processing of each food in their massive database. Reviewing the methodology on the website reveals that these ratings were calculated in a scientifically rigorous manner. In short, I think this is an excellent tool for consumers that I highly recommend.”
