How We Score Protein Products in Australia
Methodology · Engine v5.0-density-recalibration. ProteinScore independently rates popular protein products sold in Australia using two open, category-specific scales: Protein Score (protein density, calorie efficiency, sugar) and Clean Score (ingredient quality and additive load). No brand can pay for a higher score. The formula is the formula.
The two scales
- Protein Score (0-10): Measures how well a product delivers protein within its category. Inputs are protein density, calorie efficiency, sugar content, plus category-specific bonuses (no added sugar, fibre) and penalties (added sugar, very high sugar).
- Clean Score (0-10): Starts at 10 and deducts points for each additive detected in the ingredient list. Artificial sweeteners (-0.4 each), colours (-0.3 each), preservatives (-0.2 each), modified starches (-0.2), emulsifiers (-0.15 each), flavour enhancers (-0.15 each), natural sweeteners (-0.1 each), stabilisers (-0.1 each).
Category-specific Protein Score formulas
Milk Drinks & RTD Protein (per 100mL)
Drinks are mostly water and dairy, so even 7g of protein per 100mL is impressive. Natural lactose is separated from added sugars, and products with added sugar receive the largest single penalty in any category.
- Protein density (per 100mL).
- Calorie efficiency: fewer calories per gram of protein wins.
- Sugar content with adjusted thresholds for natural lactose.
- No added sugar bonus.
- Added sugar penalty (largest single penalty on the site).
Yoghurt (per 100g)
Yoghurts have their own protein thresholds. Natural lactose (up to ~5g/100g) gets softer sugar thresholds so plain dairy is not unfairly penalised.
- Protein density tuned for dairy, not bars.
- Calorie efficiency: lean tubs beat richer ones at the same protein.
- Sugar with natural-lactose adjustment.
- No added sugar bonus.
- Added sugar penalty stacks on top of high sugar scoring.
Protein Bars (per 100g)
Bars are denser products so calorie thresholds are softened (naturally 350-450 kcal/100g). Fibre and no-added-sugar bonuses reward clean formulations.
- Protein density: bars need significantly more protein than yoghurts or drinks to score well.
- Calorie efficiency softened for bars.
- Sugar thresholds tuned for the bars category.
- No added sugar bonus.
- Fibre bonus for meaningful fibre content.
Protein Snacks (per 100g)
Protein snacks are jerky, biltong, protein cups, balls and bites. Scored on a jerky-anchored scale where dense, real-food snacks rate at the top and confectionery-style snacks land lower. Sodium is contextualised against snack thresholds, not bar thresholds.
- Protein density (jerky-anchored): 35g+/100g hits the elite band, 25g+/100g still scores strongly. Worth up to 5 points.
- Calorie efficiency: grams of protein per 100kcal. Worth up to 3 points.
- Saturated fat & sugar sanity check: penalty when both climb together. Healthy fats from nuts and seeds are not punished.
- Real-food bonus: +0.5 when the top three ingredients are whole foods (meat, nuts, seeds, dried fruit).
- Snack-specific sodium curve (300/600/900/1400 mg per 100g) so jerky's natural sodium isn't unfairly penalised.
Muesli Bars (per 100g)
Muesli bars run on a dedicated track so they're compared like with like, not against whey-based protein bars. Typically 6-10g protein/100g.
- Protein density on the muesli scale: bars above 8g/100g without leaning on added protein powder score strongly.
- Whole grain & seed bonus when whole grains lead the recipe.
- Sharper added-sugar penalty above 30g/100g so chocolate-coated bars cannot inherit a high score on oat content alone.
Ready Meals (per 100kcal)
Ready meals naturally have vegetables, sauce and carbs mixed in, so we measure protein efficiency (grams per 100 calories) instead of raw protein per 100g.
- Protein efficiency: grams of protein per 100 calories (the key metric).
- Calorie density: heavy sauces and excess carb fillers are penalised.
- Sugar: low earns a bonus, high incurs a penalty.
- Saturated fat: lean meals earn a bonus, high sat fat incurs a penalty.
- Sodium: lower earns a bonus, very high incurs a penalty.
Protein Powders (per 100g of powder)
Powders are concentrated, so protein per 100g ranges from 60g (plant blends) to 95g+ (collagen, hydrolysed whey). Each subcategory (WPI, Hydrolysed Whey, Clear Whey Isolate, WPC, Casein, Plant-Based, Blend, Collagen) has its own purity thresholds so products are compared fairly against their type.
- Protein purity calibrated per subcategory.
- Calorie efficiency on a shared scale.
- Sugar content (most quality powders have minimal sugar, so even small amounts stand out).
Clean Score deductions
- Added sugar / glucose syrup (Major)
- Cane sugar, glucose syrup, brown rice syrup, honey, and other added sugars. Penalty scales with amount.
- Artificial sweeteners (Significant, -0.4 each)
- Sucralose, acesulfame potassium, etc. Each one is counted and penalised.
- High sugar per 100g (Significant)
- Even without added sugar, very high total sugar incurs a deduction. Category-specific thresholds.
- Fillers - Powders only (Significant, -0.4)
- Maltodextrin or creamer dilute protein purity.
- Long ingredient list (Significant)
- Simpler is better. Category-specific thresholds penalise excessively long lists.
- Colour additives (Moderate, -0.3 each)
- Each colour additive (artificial or natural like paprika, beta-carotene) is counted.
- Preservatives (Moderate, -0.2 each)
- Sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, sulphites, etc.
- Modified starches (Moderate, -0.2)
- Chemically modified starches used as thickeners.
- High sodium (Moderate)
- Category-specific sodium thresholds across all categories including powders.
- Emulsifiers (Minor, -0.15 each)
- Soy lecithin, sunflower lecithin, etc.
- Flavour enhancers (Minor, -0.15 each)
- MSG, disodium guanylate, and similar.
- Stabilisers (Minor, -0.1 each)
- Xanthan gum, carrageenan, guar gum, pectin.
- Natural sweeteners (Minor, -0.1 each)
- Stevia, thaumatin, monk fruit extract, etc.
Score tiers
- 9.0+ Outstanding (Top 5%): One of the best in its category across the board.
- 7.5 to 8.9 Excellent (Top 25%): Strong protein delivery with solid nutritional balance.
- 6.0 to 7.4 Good (Mid pack): Decent option with some trade-offs in nutrition or ingredients.
- Below 6.0 Fair (Bottom): Lower protein density or meaningful nutritional trade-offs.
The five-step scoring process
- Data collection & verification: Nutrition panel data and full ingredient lists are sourced directly from manufacturer websites and product labels. Manufacturer sites are our primary source because they reflect the current formulation. The label is used to cross-check.
- Category assignment: Each product is assigned to one of five categories: Yoghurt, Protein Bars & Snacks, Milk Drinks & RTD Protein, Ready Meals, or Protein Powders. Each has its own scoring formula with subcategory thresholds where relevant.
- Protein Score calculation: The category-specific formula evaluates protein density, calorie efficiency, and sugar content using tailored breakpoints. Bonuses and penalties for added sugar, fibre and no-added-sugar formulations.
- Clean Score calculation: Starting at 10/10, points are deducted for each additive detected. Our parser scans for E-numbers, named additives, and category keywords, then deduplicates so a product is not double-counted.
- Ranking & publication: Products are ranked by Protein Score within their category. Tiebreakers use sugar, sodium, calories, then name. Clean Score sits alongside as ingredient context, it does not change rank.
Our principles
- No affiliate bias. We do not rank products higher because they pay us more commission.
- Category-specific formulas. A protein bar and a yoghurt are completely different products and are scored with completely different formulas.
- Continuous 0.1 precision. No rounding to whole stars. A 7.3 means something measurably different from 7.8.
- Ingredient scanning. Parser checks E-number, chemical name, and category keyword.
- Regular re-scoring. When manufacturers reformulate, we update the data and recalculate.
- Public methodology. Nothing is hidden.
Engine changelog
- v5.0-density-recalibration (May 2026): Sitewide density breakpoint recalibration. Per-100g and per-100kcal breakpoints across Powders, Bars, Drinks, Ready Meals, Yoghurt, Snacks and Muesli Bars realigned to current Australian-market protein density distributions, so the same absolute density now lands at the score it scientifically deserves. Added-sugar penalty rebalanced against the dedicated sugar ladder to remove double-counting; Clean Score "soft" additive deductions (stabilisers, thickeners, emulsifiers, antioxidants, humectants, anti-caking) halved while loud additives (artificial sweeteners, colours, preservatives) remain unchanged; macro-deduction multiplier reduced to prevent stacking with the protein-density ladder. Efficiency floor bonus widened (now triggers at >=7 g protein per 100 kcal, value raised to +0.5). Full 521-product live catalogue re-evaluated under v5.0 on the same day. No-curve policy preserved: every breakpoint is an absolute, pre-published value.
- v4.2-fortification-count (May 2026): Label ingredient totals remain visible, while fortified vitamins and minerals are excluded from the Clean Score ingredient-length penalty. Full catalogue rescored under the v4.2 engine.
- v4.1-snacks (May 2026): Protein snacks pulled out of the legacy Bars & Snacks bucket and given their own ranking page at /best-protein-snacks-australia/. Jerky-anchored protein density scale (max 5 points), calorie efficiency in g protein per 100kcal (max 3 points), saturated fat and sugar sanity check, snack-specific sodium curve so jerky's natural salt isn't over-penalised, and a +0.5 real-food bonus when the top three ingredients are whole foods.
- v4.0 (May 2026): Universal scoring engine cutover. Vitamins, minerals and probiotic cultures no longer count as scoreable ingredients so multivitamin-fortified products stop being unfairly penalised on Clean Score. Long-list deductions are now a soft curve capped at -1.5 with per-category floors (yoghurt up to 5 ingredients = no deduction, muesli bars up to 9 = no deduction). Muesli bars run on a dedicated track with realistic protein density expectations. Per-category additive sensitivity replaces the flat penalty table. New +0.3 efficiency floor bonus for any product hitting at least 10 g protein per 100 kcal. Full catalogue rescored on the same day.
- v3.6 (May 2026): Expanded protein powder subcategories from 5 to 8 (added Hydrolysed Whey, Clear Whey Isolate, Casein/Micellar Casein). Existing formulas unchanged.
- v3.5 (April 2026): Refined additive classification to align with FSANZ. Salt and naturally-occurring minerals correctly excluded from additive counts.
- v3.4 (April 2026): Enhanced additive detection. Filler penalty (-0.4) for powders with maltodextrin or creamer documented publicly.
- v3.3 (April 2026): Subcategory-specific protein purity thresholds for Powders.
- v3.2 (April 2026): Added fibre bonus for the bars category.
- v3.1 (March 2026): Expanded additive detection library. Improved deduplication.
- v3.0 (February 2026): Category-specific sodium thresholds in Clean Score.
- v2.8 (January 2026): Natural lactose adjustment for yoghurt and milk drink categories.
- v2.5 (November 2025): Launched Ready Meals category with protein-per-100kcal efficiency scoring.
- v2.0 (August 2025): Introduced Clean Score as a separate ingredient quality metric.
Frequently asked questions
- Do brands pay to get a higher score?
- No, never. Every rating is generated by our scoring formula based on the nutrition label and ingredients list. We do not accept money from brands. The same formula applies to everyone.
- What data does the score use?
- Only what is on the nutrition panel and ingredients list. Protein content, calories, sugar, sodium, and ingredient quality.
- Why do yoghurts and protein bars have different scores?
- Because they are completely different products. The protein level that scores well for a yoghurt would be average for a protein bar. We set fair benchmarks for each type so comparisons within each category are meaningful.
- What is the difference between the Protein Score and the Clean Score?
- Products are ranked by Protein Score, which measures how good a product is for protein. The Clean Score reflects ingredient quality. Both use a smooth, continuous scale (e.g. 7.3, 8.6).
- Why is 10/10 so rare?
- A 10/10 means the product is genuinely one of the best in its category across protein, sugar, calories, and ingredients. Most products land between 6.0 and 8.5.
- Why are ready meals scored differently?
- A ready meal naturally has vegetables, sauce and carbs mixed in. We look at how much protein you get for the calories, so a lean chicken meal with veggies gets a fair score.
- Why do drinks have such a large added sugar penalty?
- Adding sugar to a protein drink undermines the core purpose of the product. If you are buying a protein drink it should deliver protein efficiently, not extra sugar.
- Why do protein powders have subcategory thresholds?
- WPI typically has 80-92g protein per 100g, Hydrolysed Whey clears 87g, Casein lands 76-88g, Plant-Based might have 55-80g. Subcategory-specific thresholds (WPI, Hydrolysed, Clear Whey, WPC, Casein, Plant-Based, Blend, Collagen) ensure a 7/10 in any type is genuinely strong for that type.
- How are additives detected?
- We scan for E-number codes (e.g. 950, 322, 150a), named additives (e.g. sucralose, xanthan gum), and category keywords (e.g. "emulsifier", "preservative"). Each additive is categorised and deduplicated so a product is not penalised twice.
- How are certifications verified?
- Certifications such as NMI accreditation, HASTA, and Informed Sport are independently verified by their bodies. Source claims like Grass-Fed are attributed to the manufacturer and clearly marked as self-declared.
- How often are scores updated?
- Scoring is always-on: products are rescored automatically when nutrition, ingredients or the engine itself changes. We do not show real-time stock or pricing.
- Where do you cover, and which retailers?
- Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, plus major independent retailers and the bigger online stores. We focus on the popular protein products Aussie shoppers actually run into.