Plain language
What it means
What each ranking axis is measuring, and what higher vs lower usually means here. Hover any column label in a table for the short version. Ranking rules live on How we rank; citations on Sources.
Cooking oil axes
Saturated
Fatty acids with no double bonds. Reported as total saturated fat per 100 g oil. Higher: More saturated fat — often firmer at cool temps; many guidelines prefer less of this axis. Lower: Less saturated fat on this axis (paler in our color scale). Deeper red = more saturated fat; white = the lowest on the table.
Monounsaturated
Total MUFA from USDA. In cooking oils that is mostly oleic acid (omega-9), so the axis is marked ≈ omega-9 — not a pure omega-9 assay. Higher: More MUFA (usually oleic / omega-9) — typical of olive-, avocado-, and high-oleic seed oils. Lower: Less monounsaturated fat relative to other oils in the table. Deeper green = more monounsaturated fat, counted from zero.
Polyunsaturated
Fatty acids with two or more double bonds — the omega-6 and omega-3 pool combined. Higher: More total PUFA — more double bonds to oxidize when heated. Check Omega-6 and Omega-3 columns to see which family dominates. Lower: Less total polyunsaturated fat — fewer double bonds, steadier under heat. Deeper red = more polyunsaturated fat — less stable under heat; white = the lowest on the table.
Omega-6
Here: linoleic acid (18:2 n-6), the main omega-6 fatty acid in seed oils. Higher: More linoleic acid — common in grapeseed, corn, and linoleic safflower/sunflower. Lower: Less linoleic acid (paler in our scale). Does not mean “zero omega-6.” Deeper red = more linoleic acid (omega-6); white = the lowest on the table.
Omega-3
Here: ALA (alpha-linolenic acid, 18:3 n-3) — the plant omega-3 reported for oils. Not EPA/DHA from fish. Higher: More ALA — flaxseed and similar oils lead this axis. Lower: Little or no ALA on file for that oil. Deeper green = more ALA (omega-3), counted from zero.
Trans fat
Total trans fatty acids per 100 g oil — mostly made when refining deodorizes seed oils at high heat; butter and beef fat carry natural ruminant trans. Our own sample-weighted mean of retail surveys. Higher: More trans fat. WHO asks for less than 1% of energy from trans fat, industrial or ruminant. Lower: Less trans fat. Unrefined oils usually carry little or none. Deeper red = more trans fat, counted from zero.
Polyphenols
Total phenolics by the Folin–Ciocalteu test on an extract of the oil, as mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE) per 100 g. Plant antioxidants that survive in unrefined oils. Higher: More phenolic antioxidants — extra virgin olive oil leads. Folin also reacts with some non-phenolic reducers, so it is a broad measure. Lower: Fewer phenolics measured. Refined oils and animal fats are not scored on this axis yet. Deeper green = more total phenolics, counted from zero.
Smoke point
Temperature where the oil starts continuous bluish smoke under a lab method (usually AOCS Cc 9a-48). Higher: More headroom for high-heat cooking before the oil breaks down and smokes. Lower: Better suited to gentle heat or finishing; smoking starts sooner. Deeper green = higher smoke point; white = the lowest on the table.
Sweetener axes
Sweeteners · GI
Glycemic index: how quickly a carbohydrate raises blood glucose relative to glucose = 100, when a cited assay exists. Higher: Raises blood glucose more sharply on this assay scale — not a medical diagnosis. Lower: Raises blood glucose less sharply on this assay scale (paler here). Empty for many intense sweeteners. Deeper red = higher glycemic index, counted from 0 to 100.
Sweeteners · Energy
Food energy per 100 g from a cited composition database (usually USDA). Higher: More calories per 100 g on this source. Lower: Fewer calories per 100 g (paler here). Deeper red = more kcal per 100 g, counted from 0 to 400.
Sweeteners · Carbs
Total carbohydrate per 100 g — usually carbohydrate by difference in USDA tables. Higher: More carbohydrate per 100 g. Lower: Less carbohydrate per 100 g. No color — no list scores carbohydrate on its own.
Sweeteners · Sugars
Total sugars (NLEA-style mono- and disaccharides) per 100 g. Sugar alcohols are not counted as sugars here. Higher: More mono- and disaccharide sugars per 100 g. Lower: Fewer sugars per 100 g. No color — no list scores total sugars on their own.
Plant Protein (Beans & Tofu) axes
Plant proteins · Protein
Total protein per 100 g from a cited composition source. Higher: More protein per 100 g on this source. Lower: Less protein per 100 g relative to other rows. Deeper green = more protein, counted from zero.
Plant proteins · Fiber
Total dietary fiber per 100 g when cited. Higher: More fiber per 100 g. Lower: Less fiber — common on some concentrates or when USDA leaves fiber empty. Deeper green = more fiber, counted from zero.
Plant proteins · Carb
Total carbohydrate per 100 g — usually carbohydrate by difference in USDA tables. Higher: More carbohydrate per 100 g. Lower: Less carbohydrate per 100 g (paler here). Deeper red = more carbohydrate; white = the lowest on the table.
Plant proteins · Sodium
Sodium per 100 g — canned rows often run high. Higher: More sodium per 100 g (often canned or seasoned). Lower: Less sodium — typical of unsalted cooked legumes. Deeper red = more sodium; white = the lowest on the table.
Plant proteins · Energy
Food energy per 100 g from a cited composition database. Higher: More calories per 100 g. Lower: Fewer calories per 100 g (paler here). Deeper red = more kcal per 100 g; white = the lowest on the table.
Plant proteins · Saturated
Total saturated fat per 100 g when cited. Higher: More saturated fat per 100 g. Lower: Less saturated fat (paler here). Deeper red = more saturated fat; white = the lowest on the table.
Carbs (Grains & Potatoes) axes
Carbs · GI
Glycemic index: how fast 50 g of carbohydrate from this food raises blood glucose versus pure glucose (100), measured in healthy people. Higher: A faster, higher blood-glucose rise per 50 g of carbohydrate. Lower: A slower, gentler rise per 50 g of carbohydrate. Deeper red = higher GI; white = the lowest on the table.
Carbs · GL
Glycemic load = GI × (carbohydrate − fiber) in one serving ÷ 100. GI says how fast; GL adds how much carbohydrate a serving actually carries. GL is defined per serving; servings are FDA reference amounts. Higher: More blood-glucose impact per serving as eaten. Lower: Less blood-glucose impact per serving as eaten. Deeper red = higher GL; white = the lowest on the table.
Carbs · Fiber
Total dietary fiber as eaten, from USDA or, where USDA has a gap, a national table. Shown per serving or per 100 g. Higher: More fiber — usually whole grains and roots. Lower: Less fiber — usually refined grains. Deeper green = more fiber, counted from zero.
Carbs · Net carbs
Carbohydrate minus fiber as eaten, both from the same composition row. Shown per serving or per 100 g. Higher: More digestible carbohydrate. Lower: Less digestible carbohydrate — often more water or fiber. Deeper red = more net carbs; white = the lowest on the table.
Carbs · Energy
Food energy as eaten, from USDA or, where USDA has a gap, a national table. Opens per 100 g — energy density, the measure fullness and weight studies compare. Higher: More calories per 100 g. Lower: Fewer calories per 100 g. Deeper red = more kcal; white = the lowest on the table.
Carbs · Protein
Total protein as eaten, from USDA or, where USDA has a gap, a national table. Shown per serving or per 100 g. Higher: More protein. Lower: Less protein. Deeper green = more protein, counted from zero.
Carbs · Sodium
Sodium as eaten. Cooked grains are unsalted; bread and tortillas carry salt from the recipe. Shown per serving or per 100 g. Higher: More sodium — usually bread and tortillas. Lower: Less sodium — usually unsalted cooked grains and roots. Deeper red = more sodium; white = the lowest on the table.
Seafood (Fish & Shellfish) axes
Seafood · EPA + DHA
EPA (20:5 n-3) plus DHA (22:6 n-3) as eaten, both from the same composition row. These are the marine omega-3s — not the plant ALA on the cooking-oil shelf. Higher: More marine omega-3 — usually oily fish such as salmon, herring, and anchovies. Lower: Less marine omega-3 — usually lean white fish and most shellfish. Deeper green = more EPA + DHA, counted from zero.
Seafood · Omega-6 (LA)
Linoleic acid (18:2 n-6) per 100 g as eaten, from the same composition row as EPA + DHA. The main omega-6 in food. Wild fish carry little of it; farmed fish and fish canned in oil carry more. Higher: More linoleic acid — sardines canned in oil, farmed Atlantic salmon, and farmed catfish sit at the top. Lower: Less linoleic acid — wild fish and most shellfish carry almost none. Deeper red = more linoleic acid; white = the lowest on the table.
Seafood · Mercury
FDA's mean mercury concentration for the species, in parts per million (mg per kg), from its monitoring program. Shown as FDA publishes it — never converted to a serving. Higher: More mercury — the FDA/EPA Choices to avoid, such as Gulf tilefish, swordfish, and shark, sit at the top. Lower: Less mercury — scallops, shrimp, sardines, and salmon sit near the bottom. Deeper red = more mercury, counted from 0 ppm; full red at 0.46 ppm, the FDA/EPA Choices-to-avoid line.
Seafood · Dioxins + PCBs
Dioxins, furans, and dioxin-like PCBs summed as toxic equivalents (TEQ), in picograms per gram of fish as sold. Fat-soluble, so they build up in oily fish and long-lived predators. Survey means from EFSA, the UK Food Standards Agency, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Higher: More dioxins and PCBs — herring, sardines, mackerel, and shark sit at the top. Lower: Fewer dioxins and PCBs — Pacific halibut, chum salmon, and tuna sit near the bottom. Deeper red = more dioxins + PCBs; white = the lowest on the table.
Seafood · Protein
Total protein per 100 g as eaten, from USDA. Higher: More protein per 100 g. Lower: Less protein per 100 g — often more water, as in oysters. Deeper green = more protein, counted from zero.
Seafood · Energy
Food energy per 100 g as eaten, from USDA. Higher: More calories per 100 g — usually oily fish. Lower: Fewer calories per 100 g — usually lean white fish and shellfish. No color — no list scores calories on their own.
Seafood · Saturated
Total saturated fatty acids per 100 g as eaten, from USDA. Same guideline polarity as the cooking-oil shelf. Higher: More saturated fat — usually the fattier fish. Lower: Less saturated fat on this axis. Deeper red = more saturated fat; white = the lowest on the table.
Seafood · Sodium
Sodium per 100 g as eaten, from USDA. Canned rows include the salt in the can. Higher: More sodium — usually canned fish and some shellfish. Lower: Less sodium — usually fresh fish. Deeper red = more sodium; white = the lowest on the table.
Also useful
Omega-9
In cooking oils this usually means oleic acid, which is already inside the Monounsaturated column (header note ≈ omega-9). MUFA also includes small amounts of other mono fats (e.g. omega-7), so we use ≈ — not a separate omega-9 score.
Rank 1
The numerical champion on the open axis for the current sort — highest or lowest depending on the arrow. It is not a health crown.
Refined vs unrefined
Separate rows when the process changes composition or smoke behavior. “Unspecified” means the USDA (or equal) record does not name the process.
Green / white / red
Color is points, one hue per column: green where a column adds points, red where it takes them off, deeper = more, white = none. Proportional, not by place. Axes no list scores stay uncolored.
Primary source
When readings disagree, the highest tier wins in the cell; others stay on hover and on the item page. See Sources for the ladder.
Sugars vs substitutes
On /sweeteners, Kind filters sugars (caloric sweeteners such as sucrose, honey, syrups) from substitutes (polyols and intense sweeteners). Same table; filter does not invent numbers.
Plant Protein (Beans & Tofu)
Everyday plant protein as most people mean it: beans (including peanut), lentils, chickpeas, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and labeled concentrates. Many tree nuts and seeds are high in protein too — they are not on this shelf; a future Nuts shelf covers them. Peanut is a legume / bean — it belongs here; that Nuts shelf may also list it with the same footnote (* peanut is a bean). Dual-list is fine when the note stays honest. No numeric protein floor decides membership.
Plant protein · Kind
Default view is All foods (whole beans plus tofu/tempeh and kin) — concentrates are opt-in so protein sort is not topped by isolates. Sub-filters: Whole foods (intact beans and seeds, including edamame and soybeans), Prepared (tofu, tempeh, and kitchen soy foods — kitchen-made, not a judgment), Concentrates. Most lifestyle ranks will hard-gate concentrates; only an I’m-not-cooking door ranks powders in.
Plant proteins · Fermented (why not “live cultures”)
Fermentation can be real while CFU claims are not. Tempeh (Rhizopus) is almost always cooked — we label Fermented, not live cultures; literature often frames cooked tempeh as paraprobiotic. Natto (Bacillus subtilis) is usually eaten without a second cook, so the live-microbe story is stronger — still not a yogurt-style CFU count. Natto may also carry a Vitamin K2 (MK-7) literature note; USDA SR vitamin K on that row is phylloquinone. Display-only until Methods publishes recipe weights.
Carbs (Grains & Potatoes)
The staple carb on the plate: rice and other grains, pasta and noodles, bread, and starchy roots. “Potatoes” stands in for starchy roots and vegetables — sweet potato, taro, plantain, yam, pumpkin, lotus root. Every value is as eaten (cooked for grains, pasta, and roots; as sold for bread), shown per serving (the FDA reference amount) or per 100 g. Beans stay on Plant proteins; sugars stay on Sweeteners.
Carbs · Whole vs refined
Whole grains keep bran and germ (brown rice, oats, whole-wheat bread and pasta, pumpernickel, corn tortilla). Refined grains are milled or pearled (white rice, white pasta, white bread, pearl barley). Roots are whole foods and drop out of the view when a grain filter is on.
Carbs · Food form
Intact = kernel or root eaten whole (rice, barley, quinoa, potato). Cut or flaked = kernels cut, rolled, or cracked (steel-cut and rolled oats, bulgur). Milled = ground to flour or meal first (bread, pasta, noodles, tortillas, couscous, polenta). Intact cell walls can slow digestion, but form alone does not set GI — milled spaghetti is GI 49, intact boiled potato 78. Everyday carbs (and Whole grains / Gluten-free) and Weight goals give it 10% for what GI misses: chewing, fullness, starch kept inside cell walls.
Carbs · Gluten
Per the FDA gluten-free labeling rule (21 CFR 101.91): wheat, rye, and barley contain gluten. Oats and soba vary by product — oats are often cross-contaminated, most soba contains wheat. Only gluten-free rows enter the Gluten-free list. Not medical advice; check the package label.
Seafood (Fish & Shellfish)
Fish, shellfish, squid, and octopus as eaten: cooked from fresh or frozen, or canned as sold. Wild or farmed is tagged when we can confirm it (a Wild / Farmed label in the tables, and in the name on the item page) — the composition row names one, or the US supply is one-sided (species that are caught, not farmed; tilapia, which is farmed). Species sold both ways in real volume, such as shrimp and mussels, stay untagged. Breaded and fried seafood, surimi, roe, seaweed, and fish-oil supplements are not on this shelf. Land meat stays on its own shelf.
Seafood · FDA/EPA advice
The FDA/EPA Advice about Eating Fish (revised October 2021) sorts fish into Best choices, Good choices, and Choices to avoid by mercury. We show each row’s category as FDA/EPA prints it. Choices to avoid carry a High mercury label by the name and rank on the same published formula as every other row, so their mercury costs them points; a place on a list does not override FDA/EPA’s advice. Species not on the chart (mussels, octopus) show no category; Pregnancy & kids judges every row by its own mercury against the 0.15 ppm line FDA/EPA used for Best choices instead. How much and how often to eat is FDA/EPA’s advice, not ours.
Seafood · Low mercury & PCBs
A badge for rows that pass two published tests: the species is on the Dietary Guidelines’ even-lower-mercury list, and its leading dioxin + PCB figure is measured and at or under 0.62 pg TEQ/g — the level at which 8 oz a week stays within EFSA’s 2018 weekly limit for a 70 kg adult. Untested and “below” figures cannot earn it. Not a safety rating, and it does not change any score or rank. Full derivation on Methods.
Empty cell
We leave a cell blank when we lack a method-cited source we will put a number on. Empty is honest; invention is not.
Table butter and smoke point
Table butter is an emulsion (fat + water + milk solids), not a pure oil. AOCS smoke methods are for triglyceride fats; browning when butter cooks is usually milk solids burning, not a lab smoke point — so smoke stays empty. Anhydrous butter oil / ghee can be tested in principle; we still need a dated AOCS-grade reading before filling the cell.