Method and system for assessing, scoring, grouping and presenting nutritional value information of food products

Abstract

A method and system for presenting nutritional information about food products. The method involves gathering nutritional data about food products, analyzing that data to determine a nutritional value, scoring the product, and applying a designation reflecting the nutritional score. The nutritional value score designation is then displayed at the point of sale for observation by customers. The system includes a data gathering function, a data analyzing function, a data storing function, a scoring function, a reporting function and a display function to perform the steps of the method described.

1 - 11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented method of assigning nutritional value ratings to a plurality of food products of the same and different type, the computer-implemented method using a computer system having (i) a plurality of computer-implemented functions, and (ii) one or more databases, the computer-implemented method comprising, for each food product, assigning a rating by:
 a) executing a data gathering function and a data filtering function of the computer system that stores in one or more of the databases nutritional data for a plurality of nutritional quality attributes of each food product, wherein caloric value is not an evaluated nutritional quality attribute of the food product;   b) establishing ranges of nutritional quality attribute values for each nutritional quality attribute, wherein nutritional quality attribute values are not established for caloric content of the food product;   c) assigning a point value to each of the ranges of nutritional quality attribute values to establish the relative importance of each of the ranges, and storing the assigned point values in the one or more databases; and   d) executing a scoring function of the computer system that is in communication with the one or more databases that
 (i) calculates a total nutritional quality score for the food product based on the point values of the nutritional quality attributes for the food product and a scoring algorithm, and 
 (ii) assigns a nutritional value rating based on the total nutritional quality score, wherein each nutritional value rating corresponds to a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, and wherein the same scoring algorithm and rating correlations are used for different types of food products. 
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the nutritional data is based on a normalized serving size. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the serving size is normalized on a predetermined caloric value. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the nutritional value rating is a designation of stars. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the designation of stars ranges from zero to three. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the nutritional quality attributes include trans fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, added sugars, added sodium, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and whole grain. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the scoring algorithm adds up the assigned point values to obtain the nutritional quality score. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12  wherein a first plurality of types of food products uses a first correspondence between each nutritional value rating and a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, and a second plurality of types of food products uses a second correspondence between each nutritional value rating and a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, the same nutritional value ratings being used for the first and second plurality of types of food products. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12  further comprising the step of executing a reporting function of the computer system in communication with the scoring function that presents the nutritional value rating for each food product in a human readable printed form. 
     
     
         21 . A computer-implemented system for assigning nutritional value ratings to a plurality of food products of the same and different type, the computer-implemented system comprising:
 (a) a data gathering function and a data filtering function of a computer system that
 (i) stores in one or more databases nutritional data for a plurality of nutritional quality attributes of each food product, wherein caloric value is not an evaluated nutritional quality attribute of the food product; and 
 (ii) establishes ranges of nutritional quality attribute values for each nutritional quality attribute, wherein nutritional quality attribute values are not established for caloric content of the food product; 
   (b) one or more of the databases of the computer system storing a point value assigned to each of the ranges of nutritional quality attributes to establish the relative importance of each of the ranges; and   (c) a scoring function of the computer system in communication with the one or more databases that
 (i) calculates a total nutritional quality score for the food product based on the point values of the nutritional quality attributes for the food product and a scoring algorithm, and 
 (ii) assigns a nutritional value rating based on the total nutritional quality score, wherein each nutritional value rating corresponds to a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, and wherein the same scoring algorithm and rating correlations are used for different types of food products. 
   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the nutritional data is based on a normalized serving size. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22  wherein the serving size is normalized based on a predetermined caloric value. 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the nutritional value rating is a designation of stars. 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24  wherein the designation of stars ranges from zero to three. 
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the nutritional quality attributes include trans fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, added sugars, added sodium, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and whole grain. 
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 21  wherein the scoring algorithm adds up the assigned point values to obtain the nutritional quality score. 
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 21  wherein a first plurality of types of food products uses a first correspondence between each nutritional value rating and a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, and a second plurality of types of food products uses a second correspondence between each nutritional value rating and a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, the same nutritional value ratings being used for the first and second plurality of types of food products. 
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 21  further comprising a reporting function of the computer system in communication with the scoring function that presents the nutritional value rating for each food product in a human readable printed form. 
     
     
         30 . A computer program product for assigning nutritional value ratings to a plurality of food products of the same and different type, wherein the computer program product includes computer-readable instructions tangibly embodied on a computer-readable medium that, when executed by a computer system, uses the computer system to perform a method comprising, for each food product, assigning a rating by:
 a. executing a data gathering function and a data filtering function of the computer system that
 i. stores in one or more databases nutritional data for a plurality of nutritional quality attributes of the food product, wherein caloric value is not an evaluated nutritional quality attribute of the food product; and 
 ii. establishes ranges of nutritional quality attribute values for each nutritional quality attribute, wherein nutritional quality attribute values are not established for caloric content of the food product; 
   b. assigning a point value to each of the ranges of nutritional quality attributes to establish relative importance of each of the ranges, and storing the point values for each of the ranges in the one or more databases; and   c. executing a scoring function of the computer system that is in communication with the one or more databases that
 i. calculates a total nutritional quality score for the food product based on the point values of the nutritional quality attributes for the food product and a scoring algorithm, and 
 ii. assigns a nutritional value rating based upon the total nutritional quality score, wherein each nutritional value rating corresponds to a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, and wherein the same scoring algorithm and rating correlations are used for different types of food products. 
   
     
     
         31 . The computer program product of  claim 30  wherein the nutritional data is based on a normalized serving size. 
     
     
         32 . The computer program product of  claim 31  wherein the serving size is normalized based on a predetermined caloric value. 
     
     
         33 . The computer program product of  claim 30  wherein the nutritional value rating is a designation of stars. 
     
     
         34 . The computer program product of  claim 33  wherein the designation of stars ranges from zero to three. 
     
     
         35 . The computer program product of  claim 30  wherein the nutritional quality attributes include trans fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, added sugars, added sodium, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and whole grain. 
     
     
         36 . The computer program product of  claim 30  wherein the scoring algorithm adds up the assigned point values to obtain the nutritional quality score. 
     
     
         37 . The computer program product of  claim 30  wherein a first plurality of types of food products uses a first correlation between each nutritional value rating and a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, and a second plurality of types of food products uses a second correlation between each nutritional value rating and a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, the same nutritional value ratings being used for the first and second plurality of types of food products. 
     
     
         38 . The computer program product of  claim 30  wherein the computer readable instructions further perform a method comprising the step of executing a reporting function of the computer system in communication with the scoring function that presents the nutritional value rating for each food product in a human readable printed form. 
     
     
         39 . A computer-implemented method of assigning nutritional value ratings to a plurality of food products of the same and different type, the computer-implemented method using a computer system having (i) a plurality of computer-implemented functions, and (ii) one or more databases, the computer-implemented method comprising, for each food product, assigning a rating by:
 a) executing a data gathering function and a data filtering function of the computer system that
 (i) analyzes nutritional data for a plurality of nutritional quality attributes of the food product, wherein caloric value is not an evaluated nutritional quality attribute of the food product, to determine its relative importance with respect to the nutritional value of the product; 
 (ii) normalizes the nutritional data for a predetermined caloric value to allow accurate comparison of different food products; 
 (iii) stores the normalized nutritional data in the one or more databases including at least the Uniform Product Code and the normalized nutritional data; and 
 (iv) establishes ranges of nutritional quality attribute values for each nutritional quality attribute based on the normalized nutritional data; 
   b) assigning a point value to each of the ranges of nutritional quality attributes to establish relative importance and storing the point values for each of the ranges in the one or more databases; and   c) executing a scoring function of the computer system that is in communication with the one or more databases that
 (i) calculates a total nutritional quality score for the food product based on the point values of the nutritional quality attributes for the food product reflecting the food's value and a scoring algorithm assessing amounts of at least trans fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, added sugar, added sodium, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and whole grain, and 
 (ii) assigns a nutritional value rating based on the total nutritional quality score, wherein each nutritional value rating corresponds to a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, and wherein the same scoring algorithm and rating correlations are used for different types of food products. 
   
     
     
         40 . A computer-implemented method of assigning nutritional value ratings to a plurality of food products of the same and different type, the computer-implemented method using a computer system having (i) a plurality of computer-implemented functions, and (ii) one or more databases, the computer-implemented method comprising, for each food product, assigning a rating by:
 a) executing a data gathering function of the computer system that stores in one or more of the databases nutritional data for a plurality of nutritional elements of each food product;   b) using a caloric value to normalize nutritional element values for the nutritional elements for each food product and establishing ranges of nutritional element values for each nutritional element, wherein calories is not a nutritional element for which a range of nutritional element values is established;   c) assigning a point value to each of the established ranges of nutritional element values to establish the relative importance of each of the ranges, and storing the assigned point values in the one or more databases; and   d) executing a scoring function of the computer system that is in communication with the one or more databases that
 (i) calculates a total nutritional quality score for the food product based on the point values of the nutritional elements for the food product and a scoring algorithm, and 
 (ii) assigns a nutritional value rating based on the total nutritional quality score, wherein each nutritional value rating corresponds to a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores. 
   
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the nutritional data is based on a normalized serving size. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 41  wherein the serving size is normalized on a predetermined caloric value. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the nutritional value rating is a designation of stars. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 43  wherein the designation of stars ranges from zero to three. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 40  wherein a first plurality of types of food products uses a first correspondence between each nutritional value rating and a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores, and a second plurality of types of food products uses a second correspondence between each nutritional value rating and a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 40  wherein any food product that does not have a minimum caloric value greater than zero is not included in the plurality of food products rated. 
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 40  wherein the nutritional elements are classified into primary nutritional elements and secondary nutritional elements. 
     
     
         48 . A computer-implemented method of assigning nutritional value ratings to a plurality of food products of the same and different type, the computer-implemented method using a computer system having (i) a plurality of computer-implemented functions, and (ii) one or more databases, the computer-implemented method comprising, for each food product, assigning a rating by:
 a) storing in one or more of the databases nutritional data for a plurality of nutritional elements of each food product;   b) using a caloric value to normalize nutritional element values for the nutritional elements for each food product and establishing ranges of nutritional element values for each nutritional element, wherein calories is not a nutritional element for which a range of nutritional element values is established;   c) weighting nutritional element values to assign relative importance to each nutritional element of the plurality of nutritional elements for which ranges of nutritional element values are established;   d) assigning a point value to each of the established ranges of nutritional element values to establish the relative importance of each of the ranges, and storing the assigned point values in the one or more databases; and   e) executing a scoring function of the computer system that is in communication with the one or more databases that
 (i) calculates a total nutritional quality score for the food product based on the point values of the nutritional elements for the food product and a scoring algorithm, and 
 (ii) assigns a nutritional value rating based on the total nutritional quality score, wherein each nutritional value rating corresponds to a nutritional quality score or a range of nutritional quality scores. 
   
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 48  wherein the nutritional data is based on a normalized serving size. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 49  wherein the serving size is normalized on a predetermined caloric value. 
     
     
         51 . A computer-implemented method of assigning nutritional value representations to a plurality of food products of the same and different type, the computer-implemented method using a computer system having (i) a plurality of computer-implemented functions, and (ii) one or more databases, the computer-implemented method comprising, for each food product, assigning a nutritional quality score by:
 a) executing a data gathering function of the computer system that stores in one or more of the databases nutritional data for a plurality of nutritional elements of each food product;   b) using a caloric value to normalize nutritional element values for the nutritional elements for each food product and establishing ranges of nutritional element values for each nutritional element, wherein calories is not a nutritional element for which a range of nutritional element values is established;   c) assigning a point value to each of the established ranges of nutritional element values to establish the relative importance of each of the ranges, and storing the assigned point values in the one or more databases; and   d) executing a scoring function of the computer system that is in communication with the one or more databases that calculates a single total nutritional quality score representative of total nutritional value for the food product based on the point values of the nutritional elements for the food product and a scoring algorithm.   
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 51  wherein the nutritional data is based on a normalized serving size. 
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 52  wherein the serving size is normalized on a predetermined caloric value.