The Yuka app revolution: How it rates the health impact of your purchases
The Yuka app allows users to scan food and cosmetic products, providing a health score based on additives, organic status, and nutritional value.
The Yuka app is a product-scanning mobile application that has gained popularity, particularly in the United States, as consumers become more conscious of the health implications of their purchases.
Launched in 2017 in France and in the U.S. in 2020, it has quickly amassed 60 million users worldwide. The app allows users to scan the barcodes of food and cosmetic products to receive a rating based on the product's health impact.
Yuka’s rating system: What you need to know
The Yuka app evaluates your purchases from o to 100, with a 100 is the healthiest possible score. The rating system is based on different factors such as:
- Nutritional value
- The presence of harmful additives
- If the product is organic.
To make it easier for users, the app uses a color-coded system to understand the possible risk of purchasing and consuming the products.
- Green: Risk-free
- Yellow: Low risk
- Orange: Moderate risk
- Red: Hazardous
How Yuka rates food and cosmetics
For food and cosmetics, the factors to evaluate are very different.
Yuka app's rating system for food:
Here, Yuka's system weights in factors such as sugar, calories, salt, saturated fats, protein, fiber, and the presence of additives. The score is based on how many additives it has, its nutritional value and if it is organic.
Yuka app's rating system for cosmetics:
For cosmetics, it is a little more simple, Yuka evaluates the ingredients used, considering their safety and risk level based on the latest scientific studies.
Yuka's impact on brands and consumers
The impact Yuka has had on the food and cosmetics industry is very significant. As Yuka prides on being independent of the influence of brands and manufacturers, this has led to big changes within the industry. Companies like, Chobani, have changed their products due to the advice given by the app.
Although the undeniable impact, Yuka has still faced criticism from nutritionist and experts as they point out the app's methodology and database could still be improved. However, while they acknowledge there is room for improvement, the app has managed to gain popularity despite this. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, has said he and his family are regular users, and plans to encourage American developers to create similar apps.
