Prepared foods

Prepared foods covers composite dishes assembled from multiple ingredients: pizza, burgers, burritos, sushi rolls, mac and cheese, fried chicken, lasagna, sandwiches. This category also picks up popular fast-food items when USDA Branded has an entry. Values reflect the typical restaurant or packaged version — home-cooked variants can score very differently.

Prepared foods are where portion size and overall diet quality collide. A fast-food burger is not ruinous in isolation, but a burger-fries-soda combination stacks calories, sodium, and saturated fat in a single meal. The USDA DGA does not ban any food but recommends these items be occasional rather than daily.

Bean burritos, sushi rolls with rice and vegetables, and lean chicken sandwiches typically score in the 40-55 range. Cheese pizza and mac and cheese sit around 35-45. Fried chicken, cheeseburgers, and loaded breakfast sandwiches fall below 35 because of combined saturated fat, sodium, and NOVA classification. Portion size — which FoodScore does not directly penalize — compounds the effect.

Score distribution

1. 01
   Wild Planet Wild Sardines In Extra Virgin Olive Oil

   Very good
   80
2. 02
   Kashi Steam Meal Plant Powered Bowl Chickpea Curry

   Very good
   79
3. 03
   Lightlife Tempeh Original

   Very good
   79
4. 04
   Wild Planet Wild Anchovies In Olive Oil

   Very good
   79
5. 05
   Wild Planet Wild Skipjack Tuna

   Very good
   78
6. 06
   Perdue Ground Chicken 93% Lean

   Very good
   76
7. 07
   StarKist Salmon Pink In Water

   Good
   72
8. 08
   STARKIST SELECTS StarKist Solid White Albacore Tuna In Water

   Good
   72
9. 09
   Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna In Water

   Good
   70
10. 10
    Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore Tuna In Water

    Good
    70
11. 11
    Jennie-O Lean Ground Turkey 93% Lean

    Good
    70
12. 12
    Wild Planet Wild Sockeye Salmon

    Good
    70
13. 13
    Bumble Bee Premium Wild Pink Salmon

    Good
    69
14. 14
    Lightlife Tempeh Three Grain

    Good
    69
15. 15
    Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna Lowest Mercury

    Good
    69
16. 16
    StarKist Chunk Light Tuna In Water

    Good
    69
17. 17
    Perdue Harvestland Organic Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

    Good
    68
18. 18
    Safe Catch Ahi Wild Yellowfin Tuna

    Good
    68
19. 19
    Safe Catch Wild Pacific Pink Salmon

    Good
    68
20. 20
    Wild Planet Wild Albacore Tuna No Salt Added

    Good
    68

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