I’ve been requested many occasions over the previous few years to do a overview of the Yuka app. It’s all the time attention-grabbing seeing apps that purport to assist folks make higher decisions with their meals, as a result of inevitably these apps cut back these decisions to some arbitrary class of ‘good’ and ‘unhealthy.’
How does Yuka decide if a meals is ‘good’ or ‘unhealthy’? And what’s the profit or hurt of utilizing an app like this? Let’s get into it.
What’s the Yuka App?
The Yuka app was initially launched in France in 2017 and later launched in Canada and the US in 2022. In accordance with 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 ranking of how “wholesome” or not they’re. For merchandise with a decrease rating, the app suggests another choice that they deem to be ‘higher’.
For this Yuka app overview, we’ll follow the meals and diet aspect of the Yuka app.
Whenever you scan a product, it offers you an total rating and ranking after which breaks down the optimistic and unfavorable attributes of a product primarily based on the Yuka app scoring system, which we are going to get to.
The app additionally classifies meals as “good” or “unhealthy” primarily based on the general rating.
Yuka additionally prides itself on being impartial and never influenced by meals corporations. There’s a premium, paid model of the app and that’s how they generate profits.
How does the Yuka app rating merchandise?
The Yuka app scores merchandise primarily based on three components: dietary high quality is 60% of the rating, the presence of components is 30%, and a product being natural or not is 10%. In accordance with the Yuka app’s web site, this 10% is a “bonus” that’s robotically given to natural merchandise.
The scoring system for dietary high quality relies on a way adopted by a number of European international locations known as Nutri-Rating. Nutri-Rating grades the dietary high quality of meals merchandise primarily based 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 primarily based on diet 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 shade primarily based on a site visitors mild, the place the upper classes are inexperienced, descending to yellow after which purple, relying on the general rating.
There’s analysis on Nutri-Rating however as I’ve mentioned many occasions, simply because analysis exists, doesn’t imply it’s good analysis. This research discovered associations (not causations) that utilizing this method has advantages on well being and diminished mortality, however these findings had been weak total, and lots of components equivalent to genetics and environmental components weren’t considered. The research 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 all know that folks can change their consuming habits and way of life habits over time, so making conclusions primarily based on one survey at one time limit doesn’t inform us a lot.
I’ve written about how one can interpret diet analysis right here.
Whenever you use the Yuka app to scan a meals merchandise, it offers you a numerical rating out of 100 and a ranking of both “glorious,” “good”, “poor,” or “unhealthy.” For instance, the goldfish crackers I scanned got a rating of seven/100 (unhealthy) as a result of that they had components that Yuka says must be averted, and an excessive amount of sodium and energy in response to the app. A number of the optimistic attributes given had been that the crackers had 3g of protein, and had 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 “unhealthy” is a horrible apply. It may create guilt and disgrace round meals and consuming, and it’s fully arbitrary. There are not any good or unhealthy meals. Any meals can match right into a diverse eating regimen, and meals ought to by no means be related to morality-based labels.
This kind 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 diet. Peanut butter has a number of wholesome fat, nutritional vitamins and minerals. This isn’t the 80’s once we had 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 diet (and low in saturated fats!). High quality of energy issues!
Labeling meals pretty much as good or unhealthy also can create concern and anxiousness round meals, and lead folks to develop orthorexic kind habits the place they develop into overly centered on making wholesome decisions. That 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 happen to’re consuming a eating regimen stuffed with complete and minimally processed meals, you shouldn’t need to care concerning the ‘rating’ of your crackers or peanut butter or no matter.
The Yuka app ranks meals with larger quantities of saturated fat as “unhealthy,” or at the least lowers their rating. Dairy merchandise are significantly affected by this ranking system as a result of they’re naturally larger in saturated fats. Tips for saturated fats consumption are to maintain it at lower than 10% of our complete calorie consumption. Once I scanned cheese, it bought a low ranking as a result of it was too excessive in saturated fats and in addition misplaced factors for being too excessive in energy and sodium.
Meals comprise quite a lot of vitamins, and whereas cheese could 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. Analysis additionally means that the saturated fats in dairy merchandise isn’t a danger issue for irritation or coronary heart illness.
Decreasing the rating due to one side is problematic, and letting that decide the general dietary worth of the meals, simply leads folks to be confused about making wholesome decisions.
The calorie ranking 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-about “low energy” at 130 per cup. One meals could also be larger in energy than one other, however that meals might also be extra satiating. As soon as once more, this categorization can result in obsessive behaviours round meals and counting energy. Not wholesome.
Yuka app and components
Earlier than I say something, let me share that I discovered this a part of their ranking system to be fully ludicrous.
It informed 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. An excessive amount of of something could be a unhealthy factor, however when you’re going to touch upon the risks of random components, you must 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.
Extremely, 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 seem like cherrypicked to go well with their narrative. Rodent research, cell research, outdated research, horribly finished research, even a research that discovered no hostile results of MSG on people.
Possibly Yuka thinks the common individual isn’t going to examine their citations, however I certain as heck am.
I reviewed the analysis round MSG. Learn my submit about whether or not MSG is secure, right here.
This whole factor can result in chemophobia round meals, making folks assume that what they’re consuming is poisonous. In actuality, all meals are completely secure. Meals components are nicely regulated in Canada and the US, and there are limits on how a lot can be utilized.
Ought to your eating regimen be comprised totally of Froot Loops? In fact not. However let’s strategy our diets with some nuance and science right here.
PS: Froot Loops bought a better rating than Multigrain Cheerios and Goldfish crackers.
Natural meals and Yuka app
After the entire Yuka app ‘additive’ scenario, I’m unhappy to say that I’m not shocked within the least by what they are saying about natural meals.
The web site cites the well being advantages of an natural eating regimen and states that natural meals are larger in antioxidants. Yuka states that individuals who eat extra natural meals have a diminished 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 are not any direct hyperlinks between natural meals and improved markers of well being. None.
I’ve truly written concerning the research they cited that exhibits that individuals who devour extra natural meals have a decrease danger of most cancers. There was a media frenzy when this research 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 components that may affect illness danger way over simply consuming natural meals over standard.
When the Yuka app suggests a “more healthy” various to a product, it’s normally an natural model that’s going to be costlier and this may lead folks to really feel unhealthy about their meals decisions, and we don’t want any extra of that going round.
Natural 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 suggest natural over standard, and I don’t purchase natural meals myself.
There are many natural meals which are ultra-processed, equivalent to cookies, crackers or frozen entrees. Whether or not natural or not, we must be consuming much less of those.
There’s completely no justification for Yuka to present an automated 10% level bonus to natural meals, and this can be a lifeless giveaway that the app is mainly non-evidence primarily based rubbish.
Yuka app overview: can Yuka assist us make higher meals decisions?
In terms of processed or packaged snack meals that rating low on Yuka, the app will recommend “more healthy” alternate options. The alternate options could also be decrease in sodium or sugar, however are they actually going to be an acceptable various for the individual primarily based on their preferences, finances, and many others?
For instance, the Goldish cracker’s top-rated various was an natural, gluten-free cracker that for my part, tastes like loss of life and in addition prices much more. What number of youngsters need Mary’s crackers? Severely, even I don’t need these issues. Can we should be guilting mother and father into shopping for costlier alternate options when the unique is completely secure?
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 better option. Your physique goes to digest that sugar the identical approach as standard sugar, and scoring issues this manner is deceptive. Sugar is sugar, and natural sugar isn’t more healthy.
Most of us know what meals are nutritious and that make us really feel good. Probably the most nutritious meals don’t sometimes include a barcode that may be scanned, however not every thing we eat must be bodily nourishing. A nutritious diet has quite a lot of meals….and no guilt hooked up.
Consuming extra complete meals and fewer ultra-processed ones is all the time ultimate, and we don’t want the app to inform us that.
The dearth of science on this app’s scoring system, plus the concern, disgrace, and anxiousness it could create round meals, outweigh any profit it might have.
I wouldn’t suggest the Yuka app to anybody.