I had the privilege of listening to Dr. David Katz speak at a lecture this weekend. In addition to his discussion on the Flavor Point Diet and his nutritional education DVDs for children, Nutrition Detectives®, Dr. Katz presented his new nutritional scoring system provided by NuVal™.
I wrote a post about this scoring system last July, but it was only in the beginning stages at that point. Katz and his colleagues developed the “Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQIâ„¢), a patent-pending algorithm for measuring the nutritional quality of foods and beverages based on the influence they have on overall dietary goals.” I am truly impressed with the science that went into creating this system, and even more impressed that it is not backed by any food manufacturers or companies trying to promote specific foods. Finally, some information we can trust!
This weekend, Dr. Katz spent about an hour explaining the sophistication of the ONQIâ„¢ system. Based on over 30 different nutrients and nutrition factors, foods are given a score between 1 and 100 (a score of 100 indicates the healthiest foods). The scores will be listed on shelf tags right next to the price of the foods you purchase. You can learn more about the scoring system here.
A key point for me…foods with artificial ingredients and hidden sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup are penalized and are therefore given a lower score.
So far, the following grocery store chains have signed on to carry NuVal labels to help their customers make smart food choices: Price Chopper, Hy-Vee, and Meijer. Many of the other big chain grocery stores are expected to sign on this year.
The U.S. food supply is terribly confusing for the average consumer, and I’m so happy to know that we’ve got some trustworthy information to help steer us in the right direction towards health.
Click here to see some NuVal scores of foods. As you might have guessed, the produce section is the superstar of high scores.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I am so glad this system is getting in place finally, although the months have seemed to fly by since your last post
Are you sure it isn’t Meijer grocery from the midwest you are referring too? You know it has a sweet spot in my heart 
Thanks for the update! I can’t wait until this comes to a Publix or Super Target near us!
Oops, yes thank you Kate, I meant Meijer. That mistake shows I’m a true southern girl!
When Dr. Katz said Meijer I just assumed it was spelled “Meyer”.
Hi Laurel, Thanks for the great post! This is the first time I am hearing about NuVal. But as a consumer, I am also concerned about the amount of preservative and insecticide used on the food I eat. Does the system take these into consideration? Thanks.
Dr. Katz said the system does not account for organic foods at this point, but they are constantly improving it.
The good news is that the numbering system will help us make better choices in each food category such as milk, produce, bread, etc.
Look at the Milk scores here:
http://www.nuval.com/pages/ScoreMilk.aspx
You’ll see that some organic and non-organic skim milks received scores of “100″. If you’re concerned about toxins, preservatives, and pesticides (I know I am), go for the organic milk, such as Stonyfield Farm Organic Fat Free Milk.
Hope that helps!
Laurel