Walk through a supermarket in Paris, Sydney, and São Paulo and you will see three different verdicts printed on the same breakfast cereal. France's Nutri-Score might give it a friendly green "B". Australia's Health Star Rating might award 4 stars. Brazil's NOVA-based warnings might brand it ultra-processed. Same box, three stories.
If you have ever wondered which one to trust, this guide is for you.
The three systems at a glance
| System | Scale | Origin | What it actually measures | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Nutri-Score | A (green) to E (red) | France, adopted across parts of the EU | Nutrient balance per 100 g — energy, sugar, salt, saturated fat vs. fibre, protein, fruit and veg content | | NOVA | Groups 1–4 | Brazil (University of São Paulo) | Degree of industrial processing, not nutrients | | Health Star Rating | 0.5–5 stars | Australia & New Zealand | Nutrient profile per 100 g, similar spirit to Nutri-Score |
Nutri-Score: the nutrient accountant
Nutri-Score adds up "negative" points (calories, sugars, saturated fat, salt) and subtracts "positive" points (fibre, protein, fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts). The total maps to a letter from A to E.
Where it shines: it is instant. Comparing two jars of pasta sauce takes one glance, and the 2023 algorithm update made it stricter on sugar, salt, and sweeteners.
Where it stumbles: Nutri-Score judges a food per 100 g against other foods, ignoring processing entirely. A diet cola can score better than olive oil. An ultra-processed cereal fortified with fibre and protein can out-score plain full-fat yogurt.
NOVA: the processing detective
NOVA ignores nutrients and asks one question: how far is this food from its original form?
- Group 1 — unprocessed or minimally processed (oats, milk, frozen peas)
- Group 2 — processed culinary ingredients (oil, butter, salt, sugar)
- Group 3 — processed foods (canned beans, cheese, fresh bread)
- Group 4 — ultra-processed foods (soft drinks, instant noodles, most snack bars)
Where it shines: a growing body of research links high ultra-processed intake with poorer health outcomes, and NOVA is the vocabulary that research speaks.
Where it stumbles: NOVA has no gradations inside group 4. Wholegrain bread from a factory and a caffeinated gummy candy land in the same bucket. It tells you how a food was made, not what it does to your daily nutrition.
Health Star Rating: the antipodean cousin
Australia and New Zealand's voluntary system awards 0.5 to 5 stars using a nutrient-profiling algorithm similar in spirit to Nutri-Score. Its biggest criticism is the same one: because it is voluntary, manufacturers tend to print stars on products that score well and quietly omit them on products that do not.
Why they disagree so often
Each system optimises for a different question:
- "Is this nutritionally balanced per 100 g?" — Nutri-Score, Health Star
- "Is this industrially processed?" — NOVA
Neither question is your question, which is usually closer to: "Is this a good choice for me, today, given my goals and my health?"
A per-100 g score cannot know that you are diabetic, allergic to peanuts, trying to hit 130 g of protein, or on medication that interacts badly with grapefruit. A processing classification cannot tell you whether the canned lentil soup is still a perfectly good dinner (it usually is).
What to look for instead
A useful food score for an individual needs to combine at least three layers:
- Nutrient quality — the Nutri-Score question
- Processing level — the NOVA question
- Personal context — your allergies, conditions, goals, and the rest of what you ate today
That third layer is why we built munchwise's 0–10 rating the way we did: the app reads the actual ingredient list and nutrition panel from a photo, then scores the food for you — flagging your allergens, weighing your health conditions, and explaining the verdict in plain language instead of a single opaque letter.
No single number will ever capture everything about food. But a number that knows who is eating has a fair head start on one that does not.
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. For guidance specific to your health, consult a registered dietitian or your doctor.
