You may have noticed these badges pop up next to each food item in the ZOE database. But what do they mean, and how can you use them to guide your food choices?
Nutritional data & scores verified by ZOE
The scores and nutrition data for these foods are verified and trusted by ZOE. This means that we have high confidence in the nutrition information and scores associated with these items. Our team of registered nutritionists have either sourced these directly or taken information from very similar entries in verified food compositional databases (CoFID, USDA FoodData).
Nutritional data & scores partially verified by ZOE
The scores and nutrition data for these foods are partially trusted by ZOE. This means that we’re less confident in the nutritional information and scores for these items, so they should be taken with a pinch of salt. Why?
We’ve had to estimate nutritional values from similar foods owing to incomplete nutritional information from the provider (e.g., missing fibre).
They contain several different foods but are labeled as a single food. Quantities of each ingredient may not be standardized and it becomes more difficult to understand the impact of eating multiple items as part of a larger meal.
Nutritional data & scores not verified by ZOE
We're either not very confident in the nutritional data for these items or are unable to score them at this time. Currently, we don’t score:
Medicinal supplements
Meal replacement drinks
Items with large gaps in validated nutritional data
This work is ongoing, which means that over time there will be more and more items with ZOE scores that you can feel very confident in. Meanwhile, please use the score confidence badges to help guide your food choices and try to find similar verified and trusted items wherever possible.