The methodology assesses companies against US-specific and international guidelines, standards and norms, and accepted industry best practices. There are seven categories (topic areas) within the methodology, each carrying a specific weight used to calculate the total Index score on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being the highest: A. Nutrition governance and management (12.5%), B. Products (35%), C. Access (17.5%), Marketing (20%), E. Workforce nutrition (5%), F. Labeling (5%), and G. Lobbying and engagement with stakeholders (5%). A total of 127 indicators are distributed between the different categories.
An important component of the Index methodology is the Product Profile — an independent analysis of the healthiness of companies’ product portfolios. The Product Profile results account for 20% of the total Index score. ATNI assesses products using the HSR nutrient profiling model, serving as an independent metric to compare companies’ portfolios. Compared to the 2018 US Index, where the Product Profile ranking was presented as a separate analysis, for this 2022 iteration the results from the Product Profile are integrated in Category B Products.
