The healthiest foods you can eat, according to new profiling system created by scientists

A team at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts including cardiologist Dariush Mozaffarian tested and profiled 8,032 foods and drinks and used an alogorithm of 54 different attributes to rank them from best to worst.

Each food is given a score from 1 (least healthy) to 100 (the most) based on the amount of calories, salt and fat they contain, range of nutrients as well as the levels of processing, additives and beneficial plant compounds.

Foods and drinks scoring 70 or higher should be encouraged, while those scoring 31-69 should be eaten only in moderation and anything lower than 30 is best eaten infrequently.

Celery juice was judged the healthiest drink, scoring 100 due to anti-oxidants that may have anti-inflammatory properties. It also contains more potassium and vitamin K, than tomato juice and carrot juice.

However coffee fans can rejoice, a skimmed milk capuccino score 73 cue to the calcium and protein content, plant components and beneficial antioxidants such as polyphenols that have been linked to the prevention of disease.

Foods that ranked 100 included almost all raw fruits and most nuts and seeds, while pulses were in the seventies and eighties and seafood had an average of 67.

Eggs, milk and cheese scored an average of 62, while poultry was in the mid-forties and red meat twenties.

Vegetables including broccoli, which is a good source of fibre, calcium and iron, plain almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and pistachios which are high in healthy fats, vitamin E and fibre all scored 100.

Halibut also scored reached the top score due to it being an excellent source of protein and selenium – an antioxidant that helps the body to repair damaged cells.

Mushrooms are high in quercetin, isorhamnetic and kaempferol, which help with blood pressure control and lower inflammation. Soya beans were also among the top healthiest foods as a rich source of beneficial plant compounds.

Vegetables prepared with or cooked in fat had much lower scores than when steamed or lightly fried.

The lowest scoring foods, according to the study, were snack products and sweet desserts with an average of only 16.4.

However sweet potato chips with no added salt had a “reasonable nutrient profile’ and minimally processed eggs, cheese and red meat were considered fine in moderation. The full list is published in The Times.

Dr Christian Reynolds, senior lecturer in food policy at City University of London, said food profiling could change the way we eat.

He said: “It is highly probable that in the next couple of years we will be able to take a picture of our food with our phones and an app from a database will provide a score of its comprehensive nutritional profile.”