How scoring works
The Nutivio Score, explained
Three parts, 100 points
The score adds up three components. Each has a fixed maximum, so no single part can dominate unfairly.
- Nutrition
65 points
Sugars, saturated fat, salt and energy lower it; fibre, protein and fruit, veg & nuts raise it.
- Additives
20 points
Each additive sits in a concern tier based on public regulatory reviews.
- Processing
15 points
Based on the NOVA group, from unprocessed to ultra-processed.
Nutrition: up to 65 points
Seven nutrients are each compared with thresholds per 100 g (or per 100 ml for drinks). Some lower the score as they rise; others raise it.
Drinks are judged against their own, stricter thresholds for sugar, saturated fat, salt and energy, because a glass of something is easy to drink quickly. Drink sugar bands follow the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy (5 g and 8 g per 100 ml). Protein and fibre don’t apply to drinks, and plain water gets full nutrition points.
A nutrient that is very high can’t be cancelled out by others being low: each very high one removes a quarter of the nutrition points, up to half.
In the app, each nutrient is marked low, moderate, high or very high using the same thresholds, so you can see which ones made the difference.
| Nutrient | Effect | Based on |
|---|---|---|
| SugarsTraffic-light thresholds from the UK FSA | Lowers it | Traffic-light thresholds from the UK FSA |
| Saturated fatTraffic-light thresholds from the UK FSA | Lowers it | Traffic-light thresholds from the UK FSA |
| SaltTraffic-light thresholds from the UK FSA | Lowers it | Traffic-light thresholds from the UK FSA |
| Energy (calories)Higher energy density lowers the score | Lowers it | Higher energy density lowers the score |
| FibreEU “source of” and “high” fibre claim levels | Raises it | EU “source of” and “high” fibre claim levels |
| ProteinEU “source of” and “high” protein claim levels | Raises it | EU “source of” and “high” protein claim levels |
| Fruit, vegetables & nutsShare of the recipe, in per cent | Raises it | Share of the recipe, in per cent |
Additives: up to 20 points
Additives are read from the ingredients list. Each one sits in a concern tier that summarises public regulatory positions, such as EFSA re-evaluations and IARC monographs.
Each distinct additive can take points away, more for higher tiers. An additive that isn’t in our table yet is treated as limited concern and shown as “unclassified”. Changes to the table are made only through recorded, audited steps.
- 1No known concernNo points lost
- 2Limited concernA small deduction
- 3Moderate concernA larger deduction
- 4High concernA large deduction; two such additives remove all 20 points
Processing: up to 15 points
Processing uses the NOVA classification, a widely used research scale that groups foods by how much they have been processed. The group comes from Open Food Facts.
NOVA 1
Unprocessed or minimally processed
15 points
NOVA 2
Processed culinary ingredients
12 points
NOVA 3
Processed foods
7 points
NOVA 4
Ultra-processed foods
2 points
From score to label
The total is rounded to a whole number and given one of four labels.
- Excellent80–100
- Good60–79
- Poor35–59
- Bad0–34
- Insufficient dataNo score is given when two or more of energy, sugars, saturated fat and salt are missing.
Honest about missing data
- Too little data, no score. If two or more of energy, sugars, saturated fat and salt are missing, the app shows “Insufficient data” instead of guessing.
- Gaps are shown. If one of those is missing, or a nutrient that raises the score, the score uses the rest and lists what was missing.
- Neutral, and flagged. With no ingredients list or no NOVA group, that part gets the middle value and is marked as estimated.
- Confidence. Each score shows how complete its data was, and whether confidence is high, medium or low.
Preferences never change the score
Allergens and dietary choices (a Premium feature) appear as separate alerts next to the score: contains, may contain, or can’t confirm when the data is missing.
Keeping them apart means a score means the same thing for everyone, and a product that suits your diet is never made to look healthier than it is.
Versioned and reproducible
Every threshold, weight and penalty belongs to a numbered version of the rules. Once a version is published it can’t be edited, and each stored score records the version that produced it, so any past score can be reproduced exactly.
When a new version is adopted, scores are recalculated and the old results are kept.
No brand can buy a score
Scores are calculated automatically from the product’s data. Our team can fix a factual mistake, such as a mistyped sugar value, but a correction changes facts about the product, never the rules for a brand. The original source data is always kept.
Where the thresholds come from
The model is Nutivio’s own. Its thresholds are taken from public, citable sources.
UK Food Standards Agency (FSA)
Front-of-pack “traffic light” criteria for fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt.
EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006
Conditions for “source of” and “high” fibre and protein nutrition claims.
NOVA classification
The food-processing classification by Monteiro and colleagues, as published by Open Food Facts.
Not medical advice
The Nutivio Score describes what’s in a packaged product compared with general dietary guidance. It is not medical or dietary advice, and it never claims that a product causes or prevents any illness. If you have a medical condition, an allergy or specific dietary needs, rely on the product label and talk to a doctor or registered dietitian.