Food scoring apps turn a product's nutrition and ingredients into a single number or rating. Most are built on two public systems: Nutri-Score, which rates nutrient quality, and NOVA, which rates how processed a food is. The biggest difference between apps is whether the score is the same for everyone (like Yuka) or personalised to your goals (like forme).
What does a food score actually measure?
It depends on the app, but a score usually blends three things:
- Nutrients to watch: sugar, salt, saturated fat, calorie density.
- Nutrients to encourage: fibre, protein, fruit, vegetables and pulses.
- Processing and additives: how far the food is from its whole-food form.
Apps weigh these factors and roll them into one rating, often colour coded.
What is Nutri-Score?
Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack system that grades a food from A (best) to E (worst) based on its nutrient profile per 100g. Good components like fibre and protein push the grade up; sugar, salt, saturated fat and calories push it down. It is the basis for many app scores.
What is NOVA?
NOVA classifies food by how processed it is, from group 1 (unprocessed or minimally processed) to group 4 (ultra-processed). It says nothing about calories or nutrients directly; it is purely about processing. Many apps fold a NOVA-style processing factor into their score.
Why do two apps score the same food differently?
Because they weight the factors differently, and some personalise. Yuka leans heavily on additives and a general rating, and gives everyone the same score. forme starts from the same kind of nutrition data but calculates the score around your goals, so a high-protein yoghurt can score better for someone building muscle than for someone who is not, with the reasons shown in plain language.
A score built for you, not everyone
forme scores food against your own goals, with the honest reasons behind the number. Always free to scan.
Are food scores accurate?
They are a useful guide, not a verdict. A score is only as good as the underlying data, and packaged-food databases have gaps. The most honest apps show why a food scored the way it did, so you can judge for yourself, rather than handing you a number with no explanation.
The bottom line
Food scoring apps work by turning nutrition and processing data into one rating, usually built on Nutri-Score and NOVA. The question worth asking is not just "what is the score" but "whose score is it". A universal score answers "is this generally healthy". A personalised score, like forme's, answers the more useful question: "is this right for me". It is food guidance, not medical or dietary advice.