String Cheese Scores 34. Canned Ravioli Scores 63. What Exactly Is the App Measuring?

At a glance

• Frigo string cheese scores 34 out of 100 on Yuka. Chef Boyardee Cheese Ravioli scores 63, with 750 mg of sodium per serving to the cheese's 200.
• Two nearly identical bags of freeze-dried strawberries scored 39 and 72.
• Siggi's vanilla smoothie rated 24 and "bad". Oikos Triple Zero rated 84 and "excellent".
• EatSure does not average anything into a number. It reads the label on the package in front of you.

The issue

The strongest argument against a single food score is a list of them side by side. Registered dietitian Kacie Barnes scanned Frigo string cheese (34 out of 100) and Chef Boyardee Cheese Ravioli (63). The ravioli has 750 mg of sodium per serving; the cheese has 200. Freeze-dried strawberries from Fresh Bellies scored 39; a nearly identical Trader Joe's bag scored 72. Writer Liz Dunn found Siggi's vanilla smoothie, with 9 g of protein, live cultures, and less than half of its sugar added, rated 24 and "bad", while Oikos Triple Zero, sweetened with stevia, rated 84 and "excellent".

How big the problem is

Dunn also found that the numbers in the app sometimes did not match the package in her hand. The data comes from manufacturers, who reformulate, or from users, who make mistakes, and a few grams either way moves a product across a color boundary. Meanwhile, about 22 million US users treat the color as a verdict in the aisle. We looked at what dietitians make of that in 22 million Americans trust a food score.

What it means for you

When two similar products land 30 points apart, the number is telling you about the formula, not the food.

What EatSure does instead

EatSure does not average anything into a number. The label scanner reads the actual ingredients and nutrition facts on the package in front of you, on your phone, with deterministic rules and an ingredient knowledge base that people review. Each ingredient shows what it is and why it matters to you, at the level you set: Avoid, Note, or OK. Two similar products get similar readings because the same rules run on both, and if a label photo is unreadable, the app says so instead of guessing. The rules are in How EatSure grades food.