Labels you may be seeing in the grocery store....

So, a few systems that evaluate the nutritional value(s) of food(s) are starting to show up in the food industry, particularly at grocery stores (ie. Whole Foods).  

NuVal™ is based on the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI™), a patent-pending algorithm that converts complex nutritional information into an easy-to-read number - basically it scores foods from 0-100,  with 100 being the most nutritional when comparing the "good" vs the bad" of a particular food.  Examples:   Coca Cola: 1 (not rocket science!),  Turkey Breast: 56,  Mango:100

The ANDI system is a bit more specific as it measures the micronutrient content of foods.  The system determined the most nutrient dense foods on a scale of 0-1000.  Foods that score lower are not necessarily bad for you...they just may not pack the "punch" that other foods do.  Examples: Watercress: 1000,  Raspberries: 133, Almonds: 28...so you see, ALL of these foods are good for you, but Watercress is more nutrient dense than the other two cited.

While providing a informative and useful service to the public, one should keep in mind that these two systems are guides and should not be strictly adhered to when making smart and healthy choices...you may end up lacking certain vitamins, good fats, etc..if you just search for the foods with the best numbers!  

For more information, search for NuVal under David Katz, MD, and the ANDI system under Joel Fuhrman, MD.

Cheers,

Dr. John