What is the Ingredoo Health Score?

Ingredoo gives every packaged food a single number between 0 and 100 — the Ingredoo Health Score (IHS). Here's exactly how we calculate it.

Why one number?

Nutri-Score tells you about macronutrients. NOVA tells you about processing. Neither tells you about additives, nor whether the animal products inside came from a free-range or factory-farmed source. IHS combines all four signals into one score so you can make a quick decision at the shelf.

The six stages

1. Food category detection

We first classify the product as one of four types using its NOVA group and category tags:

• Whole foods (fresh fruit, vegetables, unprocessed meat)
• Minimally processed (frozen vegetables, plain yoghurt)
• Moderately processed (canned tomatoes, cheese)
• Ultra-processed (soft drinks, packaged snacks)

Category affects every subsequent stage — a beverage is judged differently to a breakfast cereal.

2. Nutri-Score baseline

Nutri-Score (A–E) is mapped to a starting score. A whole-food product scoring Nutri-Score A starts at 90; an ultra-processed product scoring E starts at 20. The mapping is deliberately stricter for higher-processed categories.

3. NOVA penalty

NOVA 4 (ultra-processed) applies a –18 point penalty and caps the maximum score at 60, regardless of Nutri-Score. No ultra-processed product can score above 60.

4. Additive penalties

We check the product's ingredient list against a registry of additives. Penalties are category-aware:

• Red-flag additives (E249–E252 nitrites, Southampton Six colorants) hard-cap the score at 40.
• Moderate-concern additives (certain emulsifiers, gums) accumulate a small penalty per additive, scaled by category.

5. Beverage sugar ceiling

For drinks, added sugar is a dominant health concern. We apply a hard ceiling based on sugar per 100 ml:

| Sugar per 100 ml | Max score | |---|---| | ≥ 8 g | 15 | | 5–8 g | 30 | | 2–5 g | 55 | | < 2 g | No ceiling |

6. Animal sourcing adjustment

If the product contains animal-derived ingredients, we check for sourcing signals (pasture-raised, free-range, organic, certified humane). High-welfare sourcing adds up to +15 points; conventional factory-farmed sourcing subtracts up to –15 points.

Score bands

| Score | Label | What it means | |---|---|---| | 81–100 | Excellent | High-quality whole or minimally processed food | | 61–80 | Good | A solid choice with minor concerns | | 41–60 | Average | Fine occasionally; look for a better alternative | | 21–40 | Poor | High processing, additives, or sugar | | 0–20 | Bad | Avoid or minimise |

What IHS doesn't cover

IHS is a general health signal. It doesn't account for:

• Allergies — use the Verdicts feature for that
• Portion size — a 10 g serving of a Poor food is less harmful than 200 g of it
• Individual nutrition needs — athletes, pregnant women, and children have different requirements (the Child-Friendly verdict helps here)

Scan to see the score

Every product page on this site shows the IHS and a breakdown of each stage. Download the Ingredoo app to scan any barcode in the supermarket and see your personalised result in seconds.