HowGood has more than 17 years of research on global food supply chains. The team consolidates and analyzes findings from over 600 accredited data sources and certifications. These include a range of resources such as international frameworks, NGO guidance and standards reports, peer reviewed life cycle assessment studies, journal articles, academic conference proceedings and texts, aggregated commercial databases, targeted industry studies, NGO research, government publications, and news reports from reputable outlets.
HowGood employs the most industry-recognized methodologies and incorporates the latest scientific research. Metrics and impact assessments are updated on an ongoing, iterative basis, making HowGood’s platform the leading-edge tool for product sustainability. In turn, HowGood is able to provide impact assessments that are accurate, comprehensive, and the most up-to-date. Through HowGood’s sustainability intelligence platform, Latis, we are able to scale this approach across products, brands, and the entire food industry.
How are data sources and impact assessments updated?
HowGood employs an iterative approach to assessing and updating data sources and in turn, strengthening impact assessments for our customers. Our Research team is constantly reviewing the latest findings from scientific publications and assessing new data sources for inclusion in our global product sustainability database. As our database expands, our impact assessments become more granular and our customers are given instant access to the most up-to-date scientific findings on food sustainability - a process that would be costly and time-consuming for them to undertake on their own. As a result, our customers are enabled with the tools and information they need to innovate, communicate and report on food sustainability, in line with industry-recognized methodology and thinking.
We conduct updates to our global ingredient database in the following instances:
Customer requests
We partner with our customers to bring more specific data into our calculations if and when a customer can provide it. This may be in the form of data that has been collected from suppliers, commissioned or purchased. We also update impact assessments on specific ingredients by customer request. The insights that we gain from conducting this research are then made available to our broader customer base.
Periodic audits of ingredients and sourcing locations
We perform periodic audits of particular ingredients and crop origin locations and update the values for those ingredients accordingly. For GHG emissions, this process takes place by assessing individual LCAs and academic studies to find updated emissions factors for specific crops, locations and agricultural practices.
Latest Research Updates:
04/18/2024
Update to ingredient concentration for beans
The ingredient concentration for cooked beans and peas has been updated to account for the additional water during the cooking process. This update has an overall positive impact on the products affected.
This update affects:
04/03/2024
Update to ingredient concentration for candelilla wax
The ingredient concentration of candelilla wax was reduced to reflect the latest research.
This update affects:
03/19/2024
Update to malic acid
Malic acid has been broken out into two separate ingredients - "Malic acid - plant-based "and "Malic acid - petroleum-based". This update reflects the difference in processing required to produce a plant-based malic acid (derived from apples), or a synthetic malic acid (derived from petroleum).
This update affects:
03/04/2024
Vanilla CO2 extraction process update
We updated the extraction process for CO2 vanilla, in line with the latest research.
This update affects:
03/01/2024
Update to ingredient concentration for unspecified emulsifier
We updated the ingredient concentration values for unspecified emulsifier, to be more reflective of ubiquitous food emulsifiers on the market.
This update affects:
02/23/2024
Update to GHG Emissions for tuna
We updated the GHG emissions for tuna to reflect the latest research. As a result, all GHG emissions values for tuna are lower.
This update affects:
02/16/2024
Update to processing types for distilled ingredients
We updated the processing values and added a process specific to vinegar distillation. Distilled ingredients, including distilled malt vinegar, distilled vinegar, distilled wine vinegar and ethyl alcohol will all have updated scores.
This update affects:
02/09/2024
Update to Upstream Processing stage of the Carbon Life Cycle
We updated the Upstream Processing stage of the Carbon Life Cycle to include non-biogenic emissions from biomass-fueled ingredient processing.
This update affects:
Ingredient Processing GHGs
02/09/2024
Update to emissions calculations and functional unit of the Packaging stage of the Carbon Life Cycle
We updated the Packaging stage of the Carbon Life Cycle to include emissions generated from transportation of the packaging materials. We also updated the functional unit of the Packaging stage to kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram of product (kg CO2e / kg), to make it consistent with all of our carbon metrics.
This update affects:
02/09/2024
Update to ingredient concentration for essential oils
Ingredient concentration values for essential oils were updated because more accurate data from suppliers were provided.
This update affects:
1/30/2024
Update to GHG impact and yield measurements for elderberry and elderflower
GHG impact for elderberry and elderflower has been updated to reflect more specific processing and sourcing data.
This update affects:
1/29/2024
Update to ingredient concentration for select ingredients
The ingredient concentration for the following ingredients has been refined to more accurately reflect total impact. Most of the ingredients in this list are not frequently found in products and the overall product impact is minimal.
Ingredients affected by the update
Ingredients affected by the update
Astragalus
Black tea extract
Blue 2
Boar
Carotene
Celery stock
Dried chervil
Dried sage
Fresh cilantro
Fresh corn
Fresh fennel
Herb extract
Hydrogenated Sunflower Seed Oil
Kohlrabi
l-phenylalanine
lovage
Mycoprotein
Nettle Leaf
Ollucus
Palm Kernel Oil
Smoked trout
Soursop
Tannier
Uncooked potato
Uncooked spot fish
Vegetable ash
Vitamin A
This update affects:
1/29/2024
Update to GHG impact measurements for rice grown in the US
GHG impact for rice grown in the US has been updated according to research from a higher quality source. This will have a minor negative effect on products that contain rice with US as the sourcing location.
This update affects:
1/27/2024
Update to emissions factors for processes that use coal and biomass fuels
Based on more recent research, we have updated the emissions factors used to measure the carbon footprint of processes that are fueled by coal and biomass. Examples include calcination processing, pickles manufacturing, and cardboard packaging.
This update affects:
1/17/2023
Update to land use change for dill sourced from the EU
Based on the latest industry data, we have updated the emissions associated with land use change for dill grown in the EU region.
This update affects:
1/8/2024
Update to impact measurement for coffee ingredients
Based on more recent research, we have updated the ingredient concentrations and processing types for coffee-derived ingredients.
This update affects:
12/20/2023
Update to emissions factors for natural flavors
Based on the latest industry data, we have updated the ingredient concentration and emissions factors of natural flavor ingredients in the database.
This update affects:
12/11/2023
Update to ingredient concentration for coffee concentrate
The ingredient concentration value and processing type for coffee concentrate have been updated to reflect the latest research and further differentiate this ingredient from other coffee-based flavors.
This update affects:
12/1/2023
Update to Alkaline Tricalcium Citrate Processing Types
The energy required for alkaline tricalcium citrate has been updated to reflect the latest research. Because most of the energy comes from natural gas and electricity, more recent processing data is material to more accurately assessing.
This update affects:
11/27/2023
Update to Land Use Change for Ivory Coast
The Land Use Change value for cacao products from the Ivory Coast have been updated to more accurately reflect associated land use change.
This update affects:
11/15/2023
Update to Carbon Footprint (Cradle-to-manufacturing gate)
Carbon Footprint (Cradle-to-manufacturing gate) has been updated to include GHG emissions associated with land use change and carbon removals. Read more about the Land Use Change metric.
This update affects:
11/13/2023
Update to petro derived ingredients
Synthetic ingredients have historically been linked to a generic origin for petro. Our Research team has reviewed all ingredients with the petro origin and updated according to the specific petro-derived chemical (ie. benzene, ethylene). This update generally has minimal impact on products but may be higher depending on the composition of the product (ie. categories with more synthetic ingredients).
11/09/2023
Update to ingredient concentrations for powders and concentrates
The ingredient concentration for powders and concentrates were audited and updated. This update has minimal impact on products because these ingredients typically comprise a small percentage of the total product.
This update affects:
11/09/2023
Updated On-farm (Land Management) GHGs for Irish Dairy
The GHGs for dairy from Ireland have been updated according to new scientific research.
This update affects:
10/16/2023
Updated Manufacturing Energies for Plant Based Cheeses
Our research team reviewed the energy required to manufacture plant-based cheese, and adjusted the values to give a more precise estimate of GHG emissions during the manufacturing stage.
This update affects:
10/09/2023
Update to Land Use metric
The “Land Use” metric has been re-named “Land Occupation”, in order to better align with the GHG Protocol terminology. The metric’s units have also been changed from m2/mt to ha/mt (hectares per metric ton of ingredient or product produced).
This update affects:
09/11/2023
Update to fuel types for the Manufacturing stage of the Carbon Life Cycle
Our research team has made improvements to provide a more precise assessment of GHG emissions associated with the Manufacturing stage of the Carbon Life Cycle. The methodology now takes into account the most likely fuel source associated with a product's manufacturing type, in instances where electricity is not the only type of energy being used to manufacture a product or ingredient.
This update affects:
08/24/2023
Update to Coconut
Yields, ingredient concentrations and sources were updated for all coconut ingredients, in line with the latest research conducted by our research team.
This update affects:
08/03/2023
Update to Stevia
All origins, processing types and ingredient concentrations for stevia were updated to provide more up-to-date data, in line with the latest research conducted by our research team.
This update affects:
Carbon Life Cycle (On-farm and Processing stages)
07/07/2023
Updated Ingredient Concentrations for Dairy Sheep and Dairy Goat
Sheep and goat dairy ingredients will have new ingredient concentrations, following the same methodology used for cow dairy.
This update affects:
06/21/2023
Update to Herbs
All herbs in our database were updated to provide more up-to-date data, in line with the latest research conducted by our research team. Overall, plant-based meat alternatives and tea will see a minimal negative impact, whereas all other sales categories will see either a small positive impact or none at all. Herbs make up a small portion of a typical product, so impacts are small for most customers.
This update affects:
06/09/2023
Buffalo Meat and Dairy Update
Our research team separated the research for buffalo meat and buffalo dairy to give more accurate data for ingredients linked to these commodities. This update is only for true buffalo, bison is not included.
06/02/2023
Increased granularity of on-farm GHG Emissions
On-farm GHG emissions have been updated for 1800 unique crop/location combinations in our database, in line with the latest data collected by our research team. Many products will see a small change in on-farm GHG emissions, however the overall impact is positive for most sales categories. The only categories to see a noticeable negative change are cold case condiments and cold case eggs.
This update affects:
05/25/2023
Updated Yields and GHG values for Nuts
The research team audited nuts to improve consistency for functional units and associated yields, in addition to reflect latest research. Some nuts were missed in the last upload including almonds from california. This update assesses the impacts of these missed OLs. Keeping functional units consistent across the platform gives more consistent data. Sources were all recorded and updated in the database, further supporting our substantiation project.
This update affects:
05/16/2023
Reduced Ingredient Concentration for Vanilla Extract
The ingredient concentration for vanilla extract has been updated to reflect an improved model of the ratio between vanilla beans, alcohol, and water in the final product.
This update affects:
04/25/2023
Dairy Ingredient Concentration Update
The ingredient concentration value for dairy ingredients was updated to align with the mass allocation rule (dry weight) recommended by the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and the European Dairy Association (EDA).
This update affects:
04/21/2023
Rye GHG Updates
On Farm GHG values for rye have been updated based on the latest research.
This update affects:
04/14/2023
Salt GHG Updates
As a part of our Q1 high priority audits, the salt origin was reviewed and updated with the latest values from research. Since salt is a small portion of most products, this has a very minimal effect on products overall.
This update affects:
03/23/2023
Maple GHG and Yield Updates
As part of our regular audit process, research has reviewed all maple origin GHG and yield data and updated it with more recent data.
This update affects:
03/20/2023
Update grid mix (kg CO2e/MJ) for regions
The grid mix (kg CO2e/MJ) for each region will be updated according to the latest reports published this quarter by EMBER and the US EPA eGRID. Carbon intensity of power grids are assessed globally and published annually. Using updated grid mix data provides more accurate carbon lifecycle calculation for phases where energy requirements are assessed at a regional level.
This update affects:
03/20/2023
New Processing Types for Hydrolysis Ingredients and Reb A Stevia
Ingredients created using hydrolysis were reviewed for more exact processing types based on more recent information and industry standards. Reb A stevia was given a more accurate processing type.
This update affects:
Processing GHGs
02/27/2023
Update to Corn GHG Values
As a part of our Q1 audits, the research team audited corn to improve consistency for functional units and support substantiation of GHG audits. Keeping functional units consistent across the platform gives more consistent data. Sources were all recorded and updated in the database, further supporting our substantiation project.
This update affects:
02/27/2023
Update to Yield and GHG Values for Nuts
The research team audited nuts to improve consistency for functional units and associated yields, in addition to reflect latest research. Keeping functional units consistent across the platform gives more consistent data. Sources were all recorded and updated in the database, further supporting our substantiation project.
This update affects:
02/17/2023
New Yield Values for Animal Origins
New yields have been calculated for most animal origins. The values are based on a meta analysis of animal feed compositions, likely growing conditions (including pasture for ruminants), and feed quality.
This gives more accurate and defendable yields for impacted origins. The draft GHGP Land Sector and Removals guidance will require a land tracking metric. HowGood's Land Use metric can be used in Land Occupation calculations for GHG reporting.
This update affects:
02/05/2023
Ingredient concentration update for 3 ingredients
We updated ingredient concentration values for the following ingredients to account for the total amount of raw material required to produce one unit of finished ingredient:
Jerusalem Artichoke Inulin
Ethyl Alcohol
Green Tea Extract
This update affects:
01/27/2023
New raw GHG value for Arugula (United States)
We updated the raw GHG value for Arugula (United States) to better align with our system boundaries. The current value is 5x lower than the previous one, with a positive impact for all customers.
This update affects:
12/22/2022
Update to ingredient concentration values for 216 ingredients
The ingredient concentration value for 216 ingredients has been updated to reflect latest research and to better reflect the amount of raw material used to create an equal amount of the final ingredient. The value affects new ingredients (not previously researched) added to Latis over the last weeks of 2022 and ingredients with a low product count (10 to 20 products) in Latis.
This update affects:
11/18/2022
Update to Turmeric GHG values, multiple locations
GHG values for turmeric were re-evaluated to increase the granularity of our dataset. The yield of Turmeric, USA has been updated as well.
Origin: Turmeric
Locations: India, Peru, USA, Hawaii (USA), Costa Rica, Thailand, Myanmar, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Fiji.
Origin: UEBT Certified Turmeric (for Innovation)
Locations: India, Vietnam, Global-tropical
This update affects:
11/16/2022
Caramel color ingredient
Caramel color and caramel powder ingredients were reassigned to Corn as raw material (previously: generic Commodity Grains) to align with mainstream sourcing in the food industry. This update affects:
11/09/2022
Natural Flavors Ingredient Concentration Update
To better reflect the amount of raw materials used to create an equal amount of the final ingredient, we are updating the ingredient concentration for unspecified natural flavors, smoked flavor, and peach flavor. Additionally, the raw material used for all generic natural flavors was updated and modeled on a combination of citrus, herbs, flowers, seeds, natural vanilla, and a carrying agent. Since the nearly all of the modeled natural flavor raw materials are global commodities, global is now the only raw material sourcing location available in Latis.
This update affects:
11/09/2022
Artificial Flavors & Vanillin Ingredient Concentration Update
The ingredient concentration value for petroleum-based vanillin has been updated to reflect latest research and to better reflect the amount of raw material used to create an equal amount of the final ingredient. In addition, petroleum-based vanillin has been used as a proxy for non-specified artificial flavors.
This update affects:
11/09/2022
Update to Cacao GHG values
GHG values for on-farm cacao cultivation were re-evaluated across all growing locations to closely align with GHG reporting standards.
This update affects:
11/09/2022
Update to Coffee GHG values
GHG values for on-farm coffee cultivation were re-evaluated across all growing locations to closely align with GHG reporting standards.
This update affects:
11/09/2022
Adjust Transportation GHGs for water
Water is typically added to a product at the manufacturing location. To more accurately reflect this fact in a product's Carbon Footprint, the transportation GHGs for water will default to 0.
This update affects:
11/09/2022
Update to Softwood Tree GHG values
GHG values for on-farm softwood tree cultivation were re-evaluated across all growing locations to closely align with GHG reporting standards.
This update affects:
11/04/2022
Update to GHG values for Limestone, three locations
Raw GHG values for Limestone for three locations (United Kingdom, Germany, and Ireland) were re-evaluated across all growing locations to reflect the latest research.
This update affects:
11/04/2022
Update to GHG values for Salt, nine locations
Raw GHG values for Salt were updated for nine locations (Netherlands, Germany, China, Turkey, Israel, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, and Denmark) to rectify a transcription error from the original source.
This update affects:
11/04/2022
Update to GHG values for Corn, two locations
GHG values for on-farm corn cultivation were re-evaluated across two European locations (Germany and France) to closely align with our system boundaries and reflect latest research.
This update affects:
10/03/2022
Update to Shea GHG values
GHG values for on-farm shea cultivation were re-evaluated across all growing locations to closely align with GHG reporting standards.
This update affects:
09/30/2022
Update to Sugar Beet GHG values
GHG values for on-farm sugar beet cultivation were re-evaluated across all growing locations to closely align with our system boundaries and reflect latest research.
This update affects:
09/20/2022
Update to Fair Labor attribute
We updated the labor flag for commodities and locations based on the latest US DOL reports.
This update affects:
09/02/2022
Update to impact assessments to account for ingredient concentration
We updated impact assessments to more accurately accounting for the amount of raw material required to produce an ingredient. By addressing the difference between the impact of the raw material and the ingredient, we’re able to provide a more accurate representation of the total on-farm impact of growing all the raw material required to make 1kg of an ingredient, rather than just the impact of growing 1 kg of raw material.
This update affects:
08/26/2022
Update to Dairy Cow, Dairy Sheep, and Dairy Goat GHG values
GHG values for on-farm dairy production were re-evaluated across all locations to harmonize allocation approaches across multiple sources and reflect latest research.
This update affects:
08/08/2022
UTZ and Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) Updates to Labor Risk metric
UTZ has been absorbed by Rainforest Alliance and has relaxed its standards so we will remove the bonus currently being awarded. ROC accepts Fair Trade USA certification as a "social fairness" equivalent certification so we will treat it the same as Fair Trade USA.
This update affects:
08/05/2022
Update to the Water Metric
HowGood's Water Usage metric was upgraded to the Blue Water Usage metric. Blue Water is a measure of the freshwater resources that are used in growing the ingredients of a product. Blue water is a stronger indicator of sustainability because it has more significant environmental impact and can be controlled to a greater extent.
The Blue Water metric takes into account both blue water usage and blue water scarcity to yield a more conclusive assessment of a product’s impact on water resources.
This update affects:
07/14/2022
Update to impact calculations to account for water as an ingredient
Product impact calculations have been updated to include water’s contribution as an ingredient to the product. Previously, a product’s impact was calculated by omitting water as an ingredient to prevent water from washing out the other ingredients’ impacts.
This update affects:
All metrics except Animal Welfare (Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs), Processing, Biodiversity, Soil Health, Labor Risk, Blue Water Usage, Land Occupation)
06/28/2022
Fair Trade Standards Update to Labor Risk Metric
HowGood looks at the working conditions and the number of workers involved for harvesting a given commodity to determine the Labor Risk Impact Fair Trade USA, Fair Trade International, and Fair for Life standards can positively impact an ingredient's Labor Risk Impact by improving the working conditions likely to be seen under the standard. These standards do not change the number of workers impacted so we are adjusting the scoring to reflect this fact.
This update affects: