mintberry.ai/methodology

How we score food.

Food Signals returns three measures per product — a NOVA processing class, a Nutri-Score grade, and an EWG composite score with per-ingredient flags. Each method is published, peer-reviewed, and recomputable from public inputs. We link to the originals.

endpoint spec · /v1/signals/foodscoring spec · v1 · frozen 2026-Q1sources cited · per field

jump to01 · NOVA — processing/02 · Nutri-Score — grade/03 · EWG — composite + flags/why these three/what makes it defensible

method · 01 · processing

NOVA — the four-class system.

Foods sorted by how much industrial processing they've been through. Originally proposed by Carlos Monteiro's group in São Paulo and now used by the WHO, FAO, and 30+ national health ministries.

1 · unprocessedraw apple

2 · culinaryolive oil

3 · processedcanned beans

4 · ultrathis Coke

Public Health NutritionMonteiro · Cannon · Levy2019 · vol 22

NOVAProcessing classification, 1–4

Four classes ranked by how much industrial processing the food has been through. The killer finding behind the system: ultra-processed foods (class 4) track with negative health outcomes more reliably than any single nutrient. Sugar is downstream. Salt is downstream. Processing is upstream.

citations

4,200+

adopted

30countries

in use since

2009

for Coca-Cola, 12 oz → class 4 · ultra-processedRead the paper →

HOW IT SCORES · five representative productsresponse shape · signals.food.nova

Banana, raw— produce, unbranded

NOVA 1

single ingredient. nothing added, nothing removed.

California Olive Ranch EVOOCalifornia Olive Ranch

NOVA 2

culinary ingredient — pressed from raw, no industrial inputs.

Eden Foods Black Beans, canEden Foods

NOVA 3

cooked + canned in brine. industrially preserved, not formulated.

Coca-Cola Classic, 12 ozThe Coca-Cola Company

NOVA 4

six ingredients, three industrial: HFCS, caramel-IV, phosphoric acid.

TJ's Speculoos Cookie ButterTrader Joe's

NOVA 4

refined sugars, palm oil, soy lecithin emulsifier — industrial formula.

method · 02 · nutritional balance

Nutri-Score — A through E.

The French/EU front-of-pack grade. An open formula that nets negatives (sugar, salt, sat-fat, calories) against positives (fiber, protein, fruits-veg-pulses). v2024 tightened the sugar weighting.

ABCDE

− 39 g sugar + 35 mg sodium + 0 g sat-fat → 23 negative pts

+ 0 g protein + 0 g fiber + 0 % fruits/veg/pulses → 0 positive pts

net = 23 pts E (cutoff for E ≥ 19 in beverages)

Santé publique Francealgorithm v2024

Nutri-ScoreA–E nutritional grade, per 100 g / 100 ml

Front-of-pack grade combining points for nutritional negatives against positives. Open formula, recomputable from a Nutrition Facts panel alone. The v2024 update toughened the sugar coefficient and lowered the cutoffs for beverages — that's what pulls modern colas to E.

adopted

7EU + UK

formula

v2024

recompute time

12ms / SKU

for Coca-Cola, 12 oz → grade EView algorithm →

HOW IT SCORES · five products under v2024response shape · signals.food.nutri_score

San Pellegrino, sparklingNestlé Waters

0 sugar · 0 fat · 30 mg/L sodium. nothing negative to add.

Oatly Original OatmilkOatly

low sat-fat, modest sugar, decent fiber from oats.

Tropicana Orange JuiceTropicana

fruit content saves it, but free sugars hit hard under v2024.

Olipop Vintage ColaOlipop

9 g prebiotic fiber per can offsets the 5 g sugar.

Coca-Cola Classic, 12 ozThe Coca-Cola Company

39 g sugar / 12 fl oz drives the score by itself.

method · 03 · ingredients

EWG — composite score + per-ingredient flags.

Two layers, one response. A composite 1–10 score per product (with nutrition, ingredient-concern, and processing sub-scores) sits next to per-ingredient A–F concern grades. Every flag links to the underlying study, the FDA position, and the EFSA position. Nothing asserted, everything cited.

COMPOSITE SCORE · Coca-Cola, 12 fl ozmid

5.8/ 10

nutrition4.6

ingredient6.0

processing9.0

PER-INGREDIENT FLAGS2 flags · 1 caveat

carbonated waterok

high fructose corn syrup · 39 g / 100 mlCobesity, T2D

caramel color (IV) · 4-MEI manufacturing byproductDIARC 2B

phosphoric acid · bone-density cohortCcohort 2003

natural flavors · 21 CFR 101.22legal · vague

caffeineok

Environmental Working GroupFood Scores DB2014–

EWGComposite score (1–10) + per-ingredient grades (A–F)

EWG's Food Scores ship as a composite 1–10 with three sub-scores (nutrition, ingredient concern, processing), plus per-ingredient flags graded A through F. Every flag links to the FDA position, the EFSA position, and at least one underlying study. Where the agencies disagree, the disagreement itself is the flag.

composite range

1–10lower = cleaner

ingredients

262tracked

linked sources

1,400+

for Coca-Cola, 12 oz → composite 5.8 / 10 · 2 flagsBrowse the DB →

HOW IT GRADES · five common additivesresponse shape · signals.food.ewg

Citric acidE330

A · ok

naturally occurring · FDA GRAS · no flag.

Soy lecithinE322

B · low

emulsifier · solvent-extraction caveat, otherwise clean.

AspartameE951

C · WHO 2B

reclassified to "possibly carcinogenic" by IARC in 2023.

Caramel color IVE150d

D · IARC

4-MEI manufacturing byproduct · California Prop 65 listed.

Potassium bromateE924

F · avoid

banned in EU, UK, Canada, China · still legal in US bread.

why three

Three measures because one measure lies.

No single score captures food. A "healthy" Nutri-Score B can hide ultra-processing. A NOVA-1 raw food can hide a flagged pesticide. A proprietary "58/100 protein bar" tells your user nothing — 58 out of what, calibrated against whom, good or bad for what use?

Three published measures let your user pick the lens, defend the answer, and recompute it themselves.

01
NOVA answers "how processed?"
The single most predictive question in modern nutrition science. Reach for it when the question is about diet pattern.
02
Nutri-Score answers "what’s the macro balance?"
Front-of-pack quick read. Reach for it when the question is about replacing one product with another in the same shelf.
03
EWG answers "what specifically is in it?"
Composite 1–10 plus per-ingredient flags with sources. Reach for it when the user has a specific concern — allergens, additives, regulatory posture.

what makes it defensible

Auditable end-to-end.
Reproducible from public inputs.

Every score we return can be reproduced from the published algorithm and the underlying nutrition facts panel. The methodology page is the algorithm. When your user asks 'why?', the answer is in the math.

01
Three published scores, returned together
Each score is one of the three peer-reviewed frameworks above. The composite is the three of them in one response — not a proprietary index.
02
Citations are the credential
Every flag links to the underlying paper, the FDA position, and the EFSA position. Where agencies disagree, the disagreement itself is the flag.
03
Versioned and frozen
The scoring spec is versioned (v1 · frozen 2026-Q1). When v2 ships, v1 stays callable so your agent's answers don't shift under it.
04
Brand-neutral, every shelf
The methodology runs the same on every product. NOVA 4 is NOVA 4 whether it's stocked at Whole Foods or a gas station.

Hit the API. Read the scores. Cite the sources.

No NDA, no procurement, no kickoff call. Every response is recomputable from the methodology above.

Try it Read the lede

How we score food.

NOVA — the four-class system.

NOVAProcessing classification, 1–4

Nutri-Score — A through E.

Nutri-ScoreA–E nutritional grade, per 100 g / 100 ml

EWG — composite score + per-ingredient flags.

EWGComposite score (1–10) + per-ingredient grades (A–F)

Three measures because one measure lies.

NOVA answers "how processed?"

Nutri-Score answers "what’s the macro balance?"

EWG answers "what specifically is in it?"

Auditable end-to-end.Reproducible from public inputs.

Three published scores, returned together

Citations are the credential

Versioned and frozen

Brand-neutral, every shelf

Hit the API. Read the scores. Cite the sources.

Auditable end-to-end.
Reproducible from public inputs.