Organic Sugar Is Still Sugar: The Arithmetic Behind the Food Score

At a glance

• The food score is 60 percent Nutri-Score, 30 percent an additive penalty, and 10 percent a bonus for an organic label.
• Nutri-Score is contested in Europe: Italy has fought it for years, and extra virgin olive oil scores a D.
• In 2021 a Paris court ordered Yuka to pay 20,000 euros over its nitrite warnings. In 2023 the appeals court reversed that as protected public debate.
• EatSure keeps nutrition, additives, and values separate, and turns none of them into points.

The issue

Here is the formula. Sixty percent of the score is Nutri-Score, a French front-of-pack label. Thirty percent is a penalty for additives. Ten percent is a bonus for an organic label. Dietitians call the last two arbitrary. Organic cane sugar earns ten free points over conventional sugar and reaches your bloodstream the same way. The additive penalty flags MSG, which decades of research have cleared at normal intake, and monocalcium phosphate, a leavening agent in baking powder, without regard to how much is in the product.

How big the problem is

Nutri-Score is contested where it comes from. Italy has fought it for years because extra virgin olive oil scores a D and Parmigiano Reggiano scores poorly, and the Parmigiano and Grana Padano consortia refuse to allow the label on their cheeses. Abby Langer notes that the research behind it shows weak associations that do not account for genetics or environment. In 2021 a Paris court ordered Yuka to pay 20,000 euros to the French charcuterie federation for calling nitrites a cancer risk; in 2023 the appeals court reversed that as protected public debate. Courts can decide that a rating is protected opinion. It is still opinion, and tens of millions of Americans are applying a European label debate to American groceries.

What it means for you

A weighting chosen in Paris is deciding what you buy in Ohio, and organic status is scoring points that have nothing to do with nutrition. For what dietitians make of the score overall, see 22 million Americans trust a food score.

What EatSure does instead

EatSure separates the three things the score mashes together. Values like USDA Organic, Non-GMO, Grass Fed, and Pasture Raised are choices you switch on; when a pack carries one you see a green note, never a score bonus, and the app tells you which claims are certified and which are just a word. Additives are explained one by one, with what the evidence says and whether regulators restrict them, and you decide whether each one is Avoid, Note, or OK. Nutrition is read against your goals and, if you opt in, your own daily values. No formula, no bonus points. The details are in How EatSure grades food.