Nutri-Score Explained: What Does the A–E Food Grade Actually Mean?

Skinny Scanning team · first published 2026-09-02 · updated 2026-10-24

Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack label that grades a food's overall nutrient profile on a five-step scale, from a green A (more favourable) to a red E (less favourable). It is a fast way to compare similar products on a shelf. It also leaves out some things: it does not tell you how processed a food is, or which ingredients are in it. Here is how to read it, what it misses, and how Skinny Scanning uses it alongside other signals.

This article is general nutrition information, not medical or dietary advice — see the disclaimer at the end.

What is Nutri-Score, exactly?

Nutri-Score weighs a food's less favourable components (energy, saturated fat, sugars, salt) against its more favourable ones (fibre, protein, and the share of fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts) per 100 g or 100 ml, and turns the result into one letter. It is used on packaging in several European countries, and its scientific committee has revised the calculation since launch.

In consumer research across twelve countries, front-of-pack letter grades helped people rank foods by nutritional quality more accurately than several other label formats.

How to read each letter

A grade means most when you compare foods of the same kind: two cereals, two yogurts, two sauces. It also ignores portion size: a small serving of a D product and a large serving of an A product can end up in a similar place.

What Nutri-Score doesn't see: processing and ingredients

Nutri-Score grades nutrients. It says nothing about how processed a food is. That is measured by a different system, NOVA, which sorts foods into four groups from unprocessed (1) to ultra-processed (4). The two often disagree. A tin of baked beans in tomato sauce, one of Skinny Scanning's sample products, has a Nutri-Score A and is NOVA 4, ultra-processed. Both are true at once.

That matters because processing has its own evidence. In a controlled NIH trial, people offered ultra-processed meals ate about 500 kcal a day more than on an unprocessed diet matched for sugar, fat, fibre and salt, and gained weight. A good letter grade does not rule that out.

Nutri-Score also doesn't name ingredients. Two drinks can both avoid sugar, but only one contains sweeteners; a spread can score poorly mainly because of its sugar or mainly because of its fat. To know why, you need the ingredient list and the nutrient table.

Nutri-Score, NOVA and the Wellness Score side by side

How Skinny Scanning uses Nutri-Score

Skinny Scanning does not invent its own letter grade. When you scan a barcode, it shows the product's real Nutri-Score and NOVA group from OpenFoodFacts when the database has them, and counts them in its Wellness Score:

• Every scan starts at 100.
• Each ingredient research links to weight gain removes points by strength of evidence: very high −30, high −20, medium −10, low −5. An ingredient costs more than 5 points only with human evidence of an effect on weight.
• Measured sugar (−10 high / −4 medium), saturated fat (−8 / −3) and salt (−6 / −2), using the UK's front-of-pack thresholds, adjust the score.
• Nutri-Score D costs 5 points and E costs 10; A to C cost nothing.

The result is explained step by step, so you can see whether a low score comes from the nutrients, the Nutri-Score, the processing or a specific ingredient. The baked beans above, for example, score 53 ("moderate"): they have little sugar per 100 g, so the sugar light is green, yet they still lose points because sugar is added as an ingredient and they are ultra-processed. The light measures the amount; the flag measures the ingredient. Meal photos have no Nutri-Score, because a photo carries no nutrient table.

Checklist — using a food grade without overthinking it:

• Compare similar foods, not unrelated ones
• For anything you eat often, check what drives the grade: sugar, salt or saturated fat
• Look at processing (NOVA) and the ingredient list too, not only the letter
• Remember portion size isn't part of the grade
• With an allergy or medical condition, always read the full ingredient list

FAQs

Does a Nutri-Score A mean a food is not ultra-processed? No, that's a myth. Nutri-Score grades the nutrient profile and NOVA grades processing; a product can be A and NOVA 4 at the same time.

Is Nutri-Score the same as counting calories? No. It's a quick grade of a food's nutrient profile per 100 g, not a measure of how much you eat.

Does Skinny Scanning calculate its own Nutri-Score? No. It shows the product's Nutri-Score from OpenFoodFacts when available and uses it as one part of the Wellness Score, alongside measured nutrients, processing and flagged ingredients.

Does the grade account for allergies or medical conditions? No. It's a general signal, not a personal assessment. Rely on the full ingredient label and, where needed, a doctor or registered dietitian.

References. Egnell M, Talati Z, Hercberg S, Pettigrew S, Julia C. Objective understanding of front-of-package nutrition labels: an international comparative experimental study across 12 countries. Nutrients 2018;10(10):1542. doi:10.3390/nu10101542 · Monteiro CA, Cannon G, Moubarac JC, et al. The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing. Public Health Nutrition 2018. doi:10.1017/S1368980017000234 · Hall KD, Ayuketah A, Brychta R, et al. Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain. Cell Metabolism 2019. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008

Disclaimer: This article is educational information about food labelling, not medical or dietary advice, and it is not a diagnosis or treatment plan for any condition. A food's grade or score is a general signal, not a personal recommendation. Talk to a qualified doctor or registered dietitian before changing your diet — especially if you have a medical condition or food allergy, or are pregnant or breastfeeding.