Which foods deliver the greatest nutritional impact?
Foods scoring 40 or higher on the Nutritional Value Score (1–100). Use these ratings to identify the foods worth prioritising in programmes and policies, as part of a diverse and balanced diet.
Nutritional Value Score (NVS)
Prioritise foods scoring 40 or higher
- Least nutritious
- Moderately
nutritious - Nutritious
- Most nutritious
Recommended food groups
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Nutritional Value Score
The Nutritional Value Score (NVS) rates foods from 1 to 100 by combining their density of essential nutrients with dietary attributes linked to a lower risk of diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Higher scores mean higher overall nutritional value. The score is built from seven weighted components, described below, and is measured both per calorie and per gram, so foods are judged fairly whether they are low in calories or more energy-dense.
Foods scoring 40 or higher tend to provide meaningful amounts of priority nutrients and a favourable balance of dietary attributes, which is why they are worth prioritising. Foods below 40 generally offer limited nutritional value and should be a lower priority, particularly those scoring below 20. For the greatest impact, prioritise the most nutritious foods first (NVS 70–100), then nutritious foods (NVS 40–69).
The NVS complements food-based dietary guidelines rather than replacing them. A healthy diet relies on variety across food groups, so use these scores to choose the most nutritious options within a diverse diet, not to narrow it down to a handful of top scorers.
Each food's score is built from seven components, weighted by how much they matter for global health. The size of each block shows its weight.
Most of the score rewards foods rich in the nutrients diets most often lack: vitamins and minerals (the most heavily weighted of these nutrients), high-quality protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and fibre. The nutrient ratios component rewards a healthy balance within a food, such as more potassium than sodium or more unsaturated than saturated fat. The calories component accounts for energy density, so foods that deliver nutrition without excess calories score higher.
For the full method, see the published paper.
Read the paper
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The findings, ideas, and conclusions presented here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect positions or policies of any of the agencies mentioned below.
