Do you try to eat a healthy diet? Many Americans aspire to but find it challenging to determine what ‘healthy’ actually means. Food labels can be confusing, and many shoppers don’t recognize some ingredients found in US products.
Enter Yuka, a mobile app with a little carrot icon, popular with Gen Z. First developed in France and launched in 2017, it allows users to scan barcodes on food and beauty products to get a simple health rating along with a list of positives and negatives. Yuka assesses products on their nutritional quality, organic ingredients, and additives. A viral TikTok video in 2022 sparked interest in the United States and it continues to grow, with new users downloading it an average of 25,000 times a day.
But as with most tech companies, how Yuka works to give a rating out of 100 is proprietary information and critics say it isn’t always an accurate measure. Yuka can be at odds with what have been approved as safe ingredients in this country. It relies on its own database of more than 3 million food items, and users can also make edits. One food manufacturer reported being penalized for the same ingredient twice, leading to an exaggerated low score. Yet consumers are following Yuka’s advice to avoid products that receive low ratings and sometimes purchase its suggested substitutes instead. The app recently incorporated a feature where you can email the manufacturer directly to request changes or post a similar ask on social media.
So whether the app is completely reliable or not, food companies are paying attention. Widespread use in France resulted in a supermarket chain there making changes to over 1,100 products, including removal of about 140 additives. Closer to home, companies like Chobani and Campbell’s are fielding requests for changes too. Chobani recently removed an additive from its oat milk. Tru Seltzer is testing new formulations that would get higher scores in the app.
Do you expect more food manufacturers to revisit their ingredient lists? Do you want them to?
Activities:
- Ask students: Do you try to eat in a healthy way? What sources of information do you use to determine how healthy your food products are?
- Have students download the Yuka app at the Apple App store or Google Play store. Try the app: Scan the bar codes of several products students have with them, such as snacks and drinks. Screen shot the resulting ratings information. Are you surprised at the results? Do you trust them? Share the results widely in class.
- Ask students to form small groups and try to independently investigate the health aspects of the products, particularly ones that have poor ratings. What do the companies claim about these products in advertising? What information can you find about additives or other ‘negatives’ reported in the app?
Sources: Newman, Jesse, (05 May 2025) Food Industry Wrestles with Shopping App, Wall Street Journal. Lebsack, Lexi, (12 Aug 2024) The rise of the Gen-Z-loved Yuka app — and its growing cohort of critics, Glossy.
