I’ve been requested many occasions over the previous few years to do a overview of the Yuka app. It’s at all times fascinating seeing apps that purport to assist individuals make higher decisions with their meals, as a result of inevitably these apps scale back these decisions to some arbitrary class of ‘good’ and ‘bad.’
How does Yuka decide if a meals is ‘good’ or ‘bad’? And what’s the profit or hurt of utilizing an app like this? Let’s get into it.
What is the Yuka App?
The Yuka app was initially launched in France in 2017 and later launched in Canada and the US in 2022. According to their web site, they’ve over 55 million customers.
The app permits customers to scan barcodes of meals and beauty merchandise and offers them a score of how “healthy” or not they’re. For merchandise with a decrease rating, the app suggests another option that they deem to be ‘better’.
For this Yuka app overview, we’ll persist with the meals and vitamin facet of the Yuka app.
When you scan a product, it provides you an total rating and score after which breaks down the optimistic and detrimental attributes of a product based mostly on the Yuka app scoring system, which we’ll get to.
The app additionally classifies meals as “good” or “bad” based mostly on the general rating.
Yuka additionally prides itself on being impartial and never influenced by meals corporations. There is a premium, paid model of the app and that’s how they earn a living.
How does the Yuka app rating merchandise?
The Yuka app scores merchandise based mostly on three elements: dietary high quality is 60% of the rating, the presence of components is 30%, and a product being natural or not is 10%. According to the Yuka app’s web site, this 10% is a “bonus” that’s routinely given to natural merchandise.
The scoring system for dietary high quality relies on a way adopted by a number of European nations referred to as Nutri-Score. Nutri-Score grades the dietary high quality of meals merchandise based mostly on vitality (energy), sugars, saturated fat, sodium, fibre, and protein and of fruit, greens, legumes and nuts. A front-of-package labeling system is then used, which breaks down meals into 5 classes based mostly on vitamin high quality. The system charges meals from ategory A to E, the place A signifies larger dietary high quality and E is decrease.
The classes are given a colour based mostly on a site visitors gentle, the place the upper classes are inexperienced, descending to yellow after which pink, relying on the general rating.
There is analysis on Nutri-Score however as I’ve stated many occasions, simply because analysis exists, doesn’t imply it’s good analysis. This examine discovered associations (not causations) that utilizing this technique has advantages on well being and lowered mortality, however these findings have been weak total, and lots of elements reminiscent of genetics and environmental elements weren’t considered. The examine used meals frequency questionnaires, that are notoriously inaccurate, to evaluate dietary patterns. They solely assessed diets at baseline, after which adopted up a number of years later. We know that folks can change their consuming habits and way of life habits over time, so making conclusions based mostly on one survey at one time limit doesn’t inform us a lot.
I’ve written about tips on how to interpret vitamin analysis right here.
When you employ the Yuka app to scan a meals merchandise, it provides you a numerical rating out of 100 and a score of both “excellent,” “good”, “poor,” or “bad.” For instance, the goldfish crackers I scanned got a rating of seven/100 (dangerous) as a result of that they had components that Yuka says needs to be averted, and an excessive amount of sodium and energy in line with the app. Some of the optimistic attributes given have been that the crackers had 3g of protein, and have been low in saturated fats.
The pure peanut butter I scanned was given 69/100 (good), however misplaced factors for being too excessive in energy and saturated fats.
Categorizing meals as “good” or “bad” is a horrible apply. It can create guilt and disgrace round meals and consuming, and it’s fully arbitrary. There aren’t any good or dangerous meals. Any meals can match right into a assorted weight loss program, and meals ought to by no means be related to morality-based labels.
This form of narrative doesn’t assist anybody be more healthy (particularly emotionally – and that issues simply as a lot as bodily well being), and it tends to create extra confusion round vitamin. Peanut butter has plenty of wholesome fat, nutritional vitamins and minerals. This isn’t the 80’s once we have been all avoiding fats.
I can’t even think about anybody giving peanut butter factors off for being excessive in energy – it’s a NUT BUTTER. It’s additionally full of vitamin (and low in saturated fats!). Quality of energy issues!
Labeling meals pretty much as good or dangerous may create worry and anxiousness round meals, and lead individuals to develop orthorexic kind habits the place they grow to be overly centered on making wholesome decisions. This is horrible for our psychological well being and takes away from the truth that we don’t eat meals in isolation. It’s the totality of our diets that matter.
If you’re consuming a weight loss program stuffed with entire and minimally processed meals, you shouldn’t must care concerning the ‘score’ of your crackers or peanut butter or no matter.
The Yuka app ranks meals with larger quantities of saturated fat as “bad,” or at the very least lowers their rating. Dairy merchandise are notably affected by this score system as a result of they’re naturally larger in saturated fats. Guidelines for saturated fats consumption are to maintain it at lower than 10% of our whole calorie consumption. When I scanned cheese, it acquired a low score as a result of it was too excessive in saturated fats and in addition misplaced factors for being too excessive in energy and sodium.
Foods include quite a lot of vitamins, and whereas cheese might have extra saturated fats (in comparison with lower-fat milk or yogurt for instance), it’s a good supply of protein, calcium and different nutritional vitamins and minerals. Research additionally means that the saturated fats in dairy merchandise will not be a danger issue for inflammation or coronary heart illness.
Reducing the rating due to one side is problematic, and letting that decide the general dietary worth of the meals, simply leads individuals to be confused about making wholesome decisions.
The calorie score system additionally appears a bit off to me. Cheese had 120 energy per serving and was deemed “a bit too caloric,” however 2% milk was thought of “low calories” at 130 per cup. One meals could also be larger in energy than one other, however that meals might also be extra satiating. Once once more, this categorization can result in obsessive behaviours round meals and counting energy. Not wholesome.
Yuka app and components
Before I say something, let me share that I discovered this a part of their score system to be fully ludicrous.
It instructed me that the monocalcium phosphate in Goldfish Crackers was “hazardous,” however the rationalization they gave doesn’t show something. It solely states that getting an excessive amount of phosphorous can result in issues. Too a lot of something generally is a dangerous factor, however in case you’re going to touch upon the risks of random components, you need to qualify these feedback with the precise quantity of this additive within the product, and the way a lot of the product you would need to ingest to trigger hurt.
Incredibly, the app additionally categorized the monosodium glutamate (MSG) in my daughter’s Takis as ‘hazardous,’ when science constantly refutes that. The 14 research that Yuka cites to again up their claims aren’t convincing and look like cherrypicked to go well with their narrative. Rodent research, cell research, outdated research, horribly achieved research, even a examine that discovered no adversarial results of MSG on people.
Maybe Yuka thinks the typical particular person isn’t going to examine their citations, however I positive as heck am.
I reviewed the analysis round MSG. Read my put up about whether or not MSG is protected, right here.
This whole factor can result in chemophobia round meals, making individuals suppose that what they’re consuming is poisonous. In actuality, all meals are completely protected. Food components are nicely regulated in Canada and the US, and there are limits on how a lot can be utilized.
Should your weight loss program be comprised completely of Froot Loops? Of course not. But let’s method our diets with some nuance and science right here.
PS: Froot Loops acquired a better rating than Multigrain Cheerios and Goldfish crackers.
Organic meals and Yuka app
After the entire Yuka app ‘additive’ scenario, I’m unhappy to say that I’m not stunned within the least by what they are saying about natural meals.
The web site cites the well being advantages of an natural weight loss program and states that natural meals are larger in antioxidants. Yuka states that individuals who eat extra natural meals have a lowered danger of most cancers, diabetes, and of being chubby or overweight. They cite research to again up these claims, however these research solely present associations and never causation.
That’s as a result of there aren’t any direct hyperlinks between natural meals and improved markers of well being. None.
I’ve truly written concerning the examine they cited that reveals that individuals who eat extra natural meals have a decrease danger of most cancers. There was a media frenzy when this examine got here out, however what they don’t say is that individuals who eat extra natural meals are likely to have more healthy diets and life total in addition to higher entry to medical care, larger socioeconomic standing, and extra time for bodily exercise. These are all elements that may affect illness danger excess of simply consuming natural meals over typical.
When the Yuka app suggests a “healthier” different to a product, it’s normally an natural model that’s going to be costlier and this may lead individuals to really feel dangerous about their meals decisions, and we don’t want any extra of that going round.
Organic meals aren’t nutritionally superior to traditional meals. With costs of meals already being so excessive, most individuals can’t afford to eat natural meals. As a dietitian, I don’t advocate natural over typical, and I don’t purchase natural meals myself.
There are loads of natural meals which can be ultra-processed, reminiscent of cookies, crackers or frozen entrees. Whether natural or not, we needs to be consuming much less of those.
There is totally no justification for Yuka to offer an computerized 10% level bonus to natural meals, and this can be a useless giveaway that the app is principally non-evidence based mostly rubbish.
Yuka app overview: can Yuka assist us make higher meals decisions?
When it involves processed or packaged snack meals that rating low on Yuka, the app will counsel “healthier” alternate options. The alternate options could also be decrease in sodium or sugar, however are they actually going to be an appropriate different for the particular person based mostly on their preferences, funds, and so on?
For instance, the Goldish cracker’s top-rated different was an natural, gluten-free cracker that in my view, tastes like loss of life and in addition prices much more. How many youngsters need Mary’s crackers? Seriously, even I don’t need these issues. Do we should be guilting dad and mom into shopping for costlier alternate options when the unique is completely protected?
If the app suggests, for instance, selecting an natural cookie that’s made with natural sugar, it might have a better rating, but it surely isn’t a more sensible choice. Your physique goes to digest that sugar the identical approach as typical sugar, and scoring issues this fashion is deceptive. Sugar is sugar, and natural sugar will not be more healthy.
Most of us know what meals are nutritious and that make us really feel good. The most nutritious meals don’t sometimes include a barcode that may be scanned, however not the whole lot we eat must be bodily nourishing. A nutritious diet has quite a lot of meals….and no guilt connected.
Eating extra entire meals and fewer ultra-processed ones is at all times best, and we don’t want the app to inform us that.
The lack of science on this app’s scoring system, plus the worry, disgrace, and anxiousness it may possibly create round meals, outweigh any profit it might have.
I wouldn’t advocate the Yuka app to anybody.