About ProteinScore
We've stood in the supermarket aisle, and we've done the maths. ProteinScore is Australia's free, independent rating platform that cuts through protein-product marketing so shoppers can make better-informed choices in seconds. We score popular protein products sold across Australian supermarkets, independent retailers and online stores against the same two open scales: the Protein Score (protein density, calorie efficiency, sugar content) and the Clean Score (ingredient quality, additive detection). Every number comes straight off the on-pack nutrition panel and ingredient list, normalised to per-100g (or per-100mL for drinks), so a yoghurt, a bar, a powder and a ready meal can finally be compared like for like.
The problem we solve
Walk into any Australian supermarket and you will find dozens of products labelled "high protein". Some genuinely deliver. Others rely on front-of-pack marketing to make average nutrition look exceptional. The difference between a protein bar with 30g of protein and 2g of sugar versus one with 12g of protein and 15g of sugar is invisible from the front of the packet. Both say "high protein". Only the nutrition panel tells the full story.
ProteinScore exists to read that panel for you, score the products we cover using the same formula, and show you which ones actually perform.
What we cover
- Protein bars
- Protein snacks (jerky, biltong, balls, cups, bites)
- Muesli bars (ranked separately so you compare like with like)
- High-protein yoghurts
- Protein shakes and milk drinks (RTD)
- High-protein ready meals
- Protein powders (WPI, WPC, Hydrolysed Whey, Clear Whey Isolate, Casein, Plant-Based, Blend, Collagen)
Coverage spans the supermarket aisle (Coles, Woolworths, ALDI, IGA), pharmacy and general retail (Chemist Warehouse, Priceline Pharmacy, Amazon Australia), specialty supplement and health-food chains (ASN, Nutrition Warehouse, Elite Supps, Mr Supplement, iHerb) and direct-to-consumer brand sites (Bulk Nutrients, Fibre Boost, BSc, MyProtein AU and similar).
How ProteinScore differs from the Health Star Rating
The Health Star Rating is a voluntary, industry-applied general nutrition label that only appears on about 37% of eligible Australian products as of November 2024. It launched in 2014, so it has now been in operation for 12 years, and display is not mandated for any rating. ProteinScore is independent and scores the popular Australian protein products in our database using protein-specific formulas covering protein density, sugar ratios and ingredient quality. We answer the specific question protein shoppers ask: which product delivers the most protein with the cleanest ingredients?
ProteinScore is not affiliated with the Health Star Rating, FSANZ or the Department of Health. The HSR is a legitimate general-nutrition tool; the points above describe limitations relevant to protein shoppers, drawn from the Government's own uptake reports and independent peer-reviewed research.
Our pillars
- Independent. Zero commercial relationships with manufacturers, retailers or industry bodies. No brand can pay for a higher ranking.
- Label Verified. Nutrition data is sourced from manufacturer websites and cross-referenced against the physical pack label. Products with both sources confirmed display a Label Verified pill. We read labels, we do not run a laboratory.
- Transparent. The full methodology is published at /how-we-score/ and versioned (currently engine v5.0-density-recalibration).
- Australian-first. The Protein Score and Clean Score are an Australian-first: a single, transparent way to compare a yoghurt, a powder, a bar, a shake and a ready meal on the same terms.
- Always-on rescoring. Products are rescored automatically whenever nutrition, ingredients or the engine itself changes. Scores are absolute, never relative, so adding or removing products from a category never changes an existing product's score.
FAQs
- How is ProteinScore different from the Health Star Rating?
- The Health Star Rating is a voluntary, industry-applied general nutrition label on roughly 37% of eligible Australian products (Nov 2024). ProteinScore is an independent platform that scores the popular Australian protein products using protein-specific formulas covering density, sugar ratios and ingredient quality.
- Can brands pay for a higher ProteinScore ranking?
- No. ProteinScore has zero commercial relationships with manufacturers, retailers or industry bodies. All rankings are determined algorithmically using verified nutrition data.
- Where does the nutrition data come from?
- We pull the nutrition information panel and full ingredient list from the manufacturer's official product page, then cross-reference against the physical pack label. Products with both sources confirmed display a Label Verified pill. We read labels, we do not run a laboratory.
- How often are scores updated?
- Scoring is always-on. Every product is rescored automatically whenever its nutrition data, ingredient list, or the underlying scoring engine changes. The current engine version is v5.0-density-recalibration.