Food Quality Guideby KarbCoach

Food Integrity methodology

The Food Integrity Score estimates how processed, additive-heavy, or hard-to-evaluate a packaged product's ingredient list appears. It is not a medical safety rating or allergen guarantee.

Infographic titled Two scores. Two different questions. Left: Food Integrity Score asks What is it made of? and focuses on ingredient quality and processing. Right: Longevity Score asks How does it fit my diet? and focuses on nutrient density and dietary needs. Footer: Together, these scores provide a clearer picture than either could alone.
Food Integrity asks what a product is made of; Longevity asks how it fits longer-term eating patterns. Product pages publish both.

What Food Integrity evaluates

Diagram titled Evaluating the micro: The Food Integrity Score. Callouts on a snack bar explain score range on a 0–100 scale, additive load, processing level, watchlist items, and formulation clarity. Estimates ingredient-list signals; not a medical safety rating or formal allergen guarantee.
Food Integrity evaluates ingredient-list signals: additives, processing, watchlist concerns, and label clarity — not medical safety or allergen guarantees.
Text version of the Food Integrity callouts

1. Score range — 0–100 scale mapping to integrity bands. 2. Additive load — volume and type of chemical additives. 3. Processing level — ultra-processed manufacturing signals. 4. Watchlist items — specific ingredient-level concern signals. 5. Formulation clarity — label transparency.

What Food Integrity does not evaluate

Missing data

When ingredient information is incomplete, Food Integrity scores only what is available and does not invent missing ingredients or allergens.

Formulations can vary by region, size, or packaging — check the current product label.

Food Quality Guide and the KarbCoach mobile app are educational tools, not for allergy or medical decisions.

Serving size and nutrition context

Food Integrity is primarily ingredient- and formulation-focused. Serving size still matters for interpreting any accompanying nutrition context on the product page, and should be confirmed on the package.

Score ranges

The 0–100 Food Integrity Score maps to integrity bands used in the app and on public pages. Higher scores generally indicate fewer high-concern formulation signals and stronger label clarity — not a guarantee of "clean" or allergy-safe.

Why Food Integrity and Longevity can differ

Food Integrity emphasizes ingredients, additives, processing, and label transparency. Longevity emphasizes nutrition alignment and longer-term pattern fit. The same product can score high on one lens and lower on the other.

Watch our 6:44 explanation of why Food Integrity and Longevity measure different things

Sourced vs estimated

Ingredient text and nutrition provenance should come from the cited catalog or label source on the product page. Concern scores are interpretive outputs over that ingredient list. Do not treat concern scores as transcribed package allergen statements.

Related: Longevity methodology