Earlier this week, the Environmental Working Group released a new food rating system, based on nutrition, safety of ingredients, food additives and the amount of processing, all taken from a database with over 80,000 grocery items. However, the new food rating system didn't bode well with grocers, as an association comprised with many of the largest food companies in the world said that the science behind the database wasn't strong enough.
As Fox News reported earlier this week, the Environmental Working Group released the new food rating system last Monday, and it's called "Food Scores: Rate Your Plate". It was developed for about three years and takes its information from LabelINSIGHT, academic research and government datasets.
The idea behind the EWG's new food rating system is to show to people what exactly it is they're eating and how it might affect their bodies, according to the sources listed above. The scores are divided in colors, like the British food system that was deemed arbitrary by a recent order from Belgium: the system features a "green zone" which are the safest foods to consume; then, there is a range from yellow to orange and then finally the darkest one, consisting in foods that ought to be avoided.
However, food companies were not pleased by the new food rating system. According to Environment Leader, the Grocery Manufacturers Association has said that the system is "severely flawed" and not well grounded on fact, which would mean users' "misinformation," according to the association. The Grocery Manufacturers Association consists of over 300 members, including Coca-Cola, General Mills and Kraft Foods.
"The methodology employed by EWG to develop their new food ratings is void of the scientific rigor and objectivity that should be devoted to any effort to provide consumers with reliable nutrition and food safety information," said the statement released by the association. "Their ratings are based almost entirely on assumptions they made about the amount, value and safety of ingredients in the products they rate."
