Meet Food Compass, a new nutrient profiling system that can help people choose and produce healthier foods. The tool was developed by a scientific team from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts in the last three years. According to a report in Nature Food, the following are the important features of the newest system:
- Equally considering healthful vs. harmful factors in foods (many existing systems focus only on harmful factors);
- Incorporating cutting-edge science on nutrients, food ingredients, processing characteristics, phytochemicals, and additives (existing systems focus largely on just a few nutrients); and
- Objectively scoring all foods, beverages, and even mixed dishes and meals using one consistent score (existing systems subjectively group and score foods differently).
The Compass profiles different foods in terms of scores, which are determined by different characteristics selected based on nutritional attributes linked to major chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and cancer, as well as the risk of undernutrition.
So what are the most and least healthful food items ranked by the Food Compass? Raw raspberry gets the highest score, whereas instant noodle soup and ready to eat pudding (other than chocolate or fat free ones) tied for being the least healthful things you can eat.
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