A great resource that will make eating clean easier than ever — Food Scores!
I am super excited to share an awesome resource with you! I learned about it at a dinner hosted by colleague and fellow dietitian Ashley Koff and sponsored by Share Care and the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The Environmental Working Group (EWG) are the folks who put out The Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 lists each year and various other consumer guides to help you lower your toxic exposure. They are my go-to resource for living a clean, detox friendly lifestyle.
So….what’s got me so excited? It’s their latest consumer guide — literally one of the most comprehensive online food databases out there called Food Scores. Food Scores answers all those questions you have rumbling around in your head while grocery shopping….should I eat this? Is it healthy? Is this the best choice? Is this food clean?
Food Scores includes more than 80,000 food products by 1,500 brands and rates them on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the best) based on the BIG THREE factors:
- Nutrition — including calories, saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, sodium, protein, fiber and fruit, vegetable and nut content
- Ingredients — including the presence of key contaminants, pesticides, hormones and antibiotics, and the health implications of certain food additives
- Processing — the extent to which a particular food has been processed. Scoring factors include modification of individual ingredients from whole foods and the number of artificial ingredients
The scoring reflects the amount of pesticides, food additives, contaminants, and antibiotics that are in the food, in addition to what is stated openly on the food label.
And it’s so simple to use. You can search by product, company, or food category. They also provide a “better alternative” if the food you wanted to eat might not be the best choice. I love the idea of the Food Score not only because it’s going to make grocery shopping a ton easier, but it will also force food companies to step up and make their food healthier!
I don’t know about you, but the Food Scores app is going to get a workout on my next grocery store trip!
