The other day, I received a question from a reader:
Why do egg whites score so low on the NuVal scale? I’m surprised that they score that low. What about Egg Beaters? How do they score?
The score for egg whites also surprised me. Egg whites were low in calories and fat, but high in protein. However, when you take nutrition into account, they only score a 26 on the NuVal scale.
So, I asked Rachel Rodek, Registered Dietitian and NuVal’s Nutrition Communications Manager, why egg whites score so low in comparison to eggs and Egg Beaters. Here’s what she said:
Egg whites, by themselves are not as nutritious as eggs. About half of the protein is removed when the yolk is removed along with many nutrients, including carotinoids (a form of vitamin A), vitamin D, and phosphorous — of course so is a bunch of fat and Cholesterol. However, the high scoring Egg Beaters products are almost always fortified with vitamins. The low scoring (26) products are 100% egg whites with no fortification.
Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 
This doesn’t surprise me; most of the nutrients are in the yolk. A good yolk is a nice, bright yellow/orange color. That means the hen that laid it had plenty of green foods in their diet and the nutrients end up in the yolk giving it a brighter, healthier look
I have another answer to this very good question to append the good answer already provided by Rachel.
We all associate egg whites with protein- they are, in fact, such a good source of essential amino acids that egg whites are used as the reference standard to score the quality of protein in other foods. NuVal includes measures of both protein quantity and quality, and so egg whites do get the appropriate credit for this.
But consider: how many people do you know in the United States, or any industrialized country, with protein deficiency? Amino acid deficiency? How many people in our society- outside of neonatal or adult ICUs- have illnesses compounded or caused by protein deficiency?
The answer is…just about none. If there is a problem with protein intake in the U.S., it is a problem of excess rather than deficiency.
A good measure of nutritional quality does not assign credit to nutrients based simply on whether they are present/absent; it assigns credit based on how important the nutrients are to health in ways that can be measured.
So while egg whites get the credit they deserve for protein, protein does not deserve the credit earned by such nutrients as omega-3 fat, or vitamin D, or fiber, which are widely under-consumed in the U.S., and clearly associated with health effects.
Gertrude Stein famously said “a difference, to be a difference, must make a difference.” NuVal measures the differences in nutritional quality among foods, and also distinguishes between differences that simply are differences, and the more important differences…that make differences! This took a lot of extra work when building the NuVal algorithm (the Overall Nutritional Quality Index), but in the view of the dozen of us who devoted years to that effort- was time well spent. It makes NuVal unique, and uniquely relevant. In short, we think Ms. Stein was right- so her sage adage had an honorary seat at the table.
Best,
David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP
Yale University School of Medicine
Principal Inventor, the Overall Nutritional Quality Index
used in the NuVal System
Just curious, if a food is natural, without any added nutrients that may be good for us, how does that compare to food where things are added to make it healthier but not how you would find it in nature on the NuVal score? I love how Nuval makes it easy to make better choices! Thank you!
NuVal provides credit to ‘natural’ foods in several ways: it does not penalize the natural sugars of fruits or vegetables; it does not penalize the natural sodium of unprocessed plant foods; and it provides unrestricted credit for the nutrients in natural foods. In processed, fortified foods, the credit for nutrients is capped. So, adding nutrients can raise scores- but only to a limited degree. The best scores of all go to foods that are natural, naturally rich in nutrients, and unprocessed or minimally processed.
What does egg beaters score? Is the same score for “Better N Eggs” as well?
@Amy Pacheco: Better ‘N’ Eggs score a 53 and Egg Beaters score a 58.
Hmm, interesting to read the post and the comments. I am surprised as well though since the yolk is also where the fat is (I believe the Saturated Fat too, but, not positive). I have always been scared of Egg Beaters because I read an article that is what they do with all the deformed and/or broken eggs. Then, they “add” things to boost the nutritionals.
Interesting though…I eat it all eggs, egg whites and occassionally egg beaters (at restaraunts).
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