Is The Yuka App Too Good To Be True? Here’s What The Internet Is Saying
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Megan Pavek. Find her on Instagram at @megan.pavek. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
As consumers, we are used to being bombarded by brands and marketing from all angles. Every company claims its product is bigger and better than the rest, leaving us with too many options to choose from. Some are reputable and diligent in providing equitably sourced and clean materials while others would give their firstborn child to sell you on their product filled with hidden toxins and negative side effects. That’s capitalism, baby!
The Yuka app was created to help consumers navigate this hairy landscape of food products and cosmetics. By scanning labels into the app, people are now equipped with an accessible tool to help them make more informed choices- but is Yuka accurate? The app promises to analyze the labels on products you buy, and expose any low-quality ingredients or health hazards. From the start, the concept felt too good to be true which elicited deep scrutinization. Across the internet, Yuka app reviews became common.
How Does Yuka Work?
To use the free app all you need to do is download it before your next shopping trip. While you’re in the store, scan the label of any food or cosmetic product and Yuka will give it a rating out of 100 complete with a full analysis explaining why. On its website, the company also breaks down its rating system and criteria. Food products are rated on nutritional quality, the presence of additives, and whether or not the product can be classified as organic. Benchmarks are created based on the latest scientific research and trusted studies. For cosmetic products, every ingredient is analyzed and assigned a risk level according to the potential impacts it can have on the consumer.
If you scan a product that is rated poorly, Yuka will recommend a similar product with a higher and healthier ranking. There is also an entire webpage dedicated to explaining Yuka’s database, data referencing, and control used.
On its website, Yuka also promises that it’s a 100% independent project with zero influence from brands, monetary compensation, or ads. The company boasts responsible financing and full transparency to consumers in order to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest that could impact product scores.
Is The App Reliable?
While the app does its best to empower consumers and remain financially independent, it’s not the end-all-be-all when it comes to rating products. Health and industry professionals have varying opinions about the app and its rankings. Andy Miller who is an experienced registered dietician created a TikTok to share her misgivings about the Yuka app. Miller was critical of the science being used to form analysis and ratings. She also believed that ranking food as either “good” or “bad” was problematic in terms of body image. Furthermore, when suggesting alternative recommendations for a low-ranking product, Yuka did not factor in price or quantity.
Other users have commented on discrepancies between app ratings and professional opinions from a trusted physician. For example, products that professional dermatologists have recommended for patients’ skin have received a low rating in the app. Again, as consumers, we are left confused and frustrated.
Take the Yuka app with a grain of salt! Is Yuka accurate? Not always. While it doesn’t have all the answers, it does get consumers thinking about the ingredients being used in the products they buy. The purpose of the Yuka App is to help us better understand labels, increase informed purchasing, and ultimately promote healthier product choices. At the end of the day, it’s up to the consumer to do their own research or seek a professional opinion. Using the app can be a good starting point to receive a general overview of the product, and from there, deeper research can be done using other credited sources.
What do you think of this Yuka App review? Do you like it and do you think it works well? Let us know in the comments below!
Great article! You can’t rely on it 100%, sometimes it says rice cakes are too caloric! 🙁
Oh my! Now that’s something! Thanks for reading!! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
I’m not one to trust Bio or Gmo foods, Yuka provides no info at all in this context, so just like any other “source” it must be checked. It would be amazing to start a business that informs with real data for human and earth’s greater good.
Thanks for reading! 🙂
I think the app is not totally reliable. I have a Biology degree and I scanned a product and it was rated as bad. When I looked down into the rating to see why, it was rated bad, it said it was because it “contained niacinamide.” That is VITAMIN B3!!!! 🤦♀️ Vitamin B3 is a necessary nutrient. It rated this product as bad because “vitamin B3 can cause flushing,” the equivalent of blushing and feeling overheated! 🤦♀️ That was it for me! I knew right then that this app could not be counted on. It rates products as unsafe for having even low levels of things that aren’t harmful or that are listed as the last few ingredients in the ingredient list. You must use this app with a grain of salt. If it comes up with hazardous chemicals in a product, then of course, don’t get that product. But use common sense when reading what the app says.
Thanks so much for reading! This is such useful information! 🙂
I agree with issues of discrepancy. I was told a product was excellent on the app and when I looked at the recommended product replacement it said they were bad. I love the idea but I can’t join as a yearly member
when the app is unreliable.
I wish this article had compared the Yuka app to the info you can get from the Environmental Working Group app. Also, with respect to the person who commented that the app gave a negative review to a product that their dermatologist had recommended. Keep in mind that doctors are generally not thinking about individual & potentially dangerous ingredients when they recommend things – the same way most doctors will prescribe a pill vs counseling someone on lifestyle changes or diet changes.
Thank you for reading! Great insight and ideas! 🙂
Exactly! Doctors aren’t always thinking about toxins when they recommend/prescribe something to a patient, so just because your doctor recommended it, does not mean it’s not without harmful ingredients.
100% agree with this comment. You have to be your most ardent health advocate because many times, Dr’s, unfortunately, may prescribe something that may alleviate one symptom while causing a host of other issues. Of course use your common senses and research things you find on the Yuka app, but I do believe the app is a great starting point to keep my family healthy when it comes to cosmetics especially.
So, a cool App that doesn’t do what it is supposed to do, and evidently, not even tried by the Author prior to writing this article. Your article sounds like talking points of the marketing department of YUKA. Gee Sabrina, thanks for nothing. You literally delivered nothing in this article, other than … Hey, check out this App that you may find doesn’t work but makes you more aware. LOL
Thanks for reading!! 🙂
Considering this app was not made in America, and the majority of the world has banned certain foods and products that America still keeps on the shelves, I’d stand by this App before listening to a western medicine doctor who’s purpose is to push big pharma into us. All “nutritionist” in America are sellouts for big brands, if you didn’t know, now you know. American “health” is garbage and so is the majority of the food we’re eating. Using common sense is a given, but the app gives more detailed and accurate information than google does. Thank you for the article, I do suggest doing more research outside of what’s acceptable in America.
Thank you so much for reading!!
Yuka app is rubbish the people who developed it are not authentic people what if people start to scan every prescription by the Doctors and hospitals most of the medicines have side effects like the rest products etc etc how they can judge the products by barcode this is not a magic or GOD made that everything be 100% correct it is unreal when you see the people scanning the face cream’s mascara did these people scan cigarettes alcohol vapes all fast food this is stupid to live in fear and became a house arrest because the air we breath is have all toxins so we stop breathing so ridiculous to walk with the mobile in hand and scanning the barcode and those extremely Genius people have a knowledge of billions products through BAR CODE which is quite hilarious
Wow, that was a long sentence, and it didn’t even finish with a period, so maybe you’re not done with your rant. Either way, I’m surprised you know the three folks that created this app and found them to un-authentic. The app does not scan prescriptions I don’t believe. Most retail products have a barcode to identify them, it’s the same as how the cash register at your store can determine the price, it’s not magic, it’s data that’s entered into a computer. The app does not scan GOD made products, so that has nothing to do with this app or the products it rates. Scanning mascara or anything else you apply to your body or eat and then making a more educated decision on what you’re buying isn’t a bad thing. I think most of us are aware that cigarettes, alcohol, fast food etc., are bad for us, so we don’t really need an app for that. You can actually live in less fear if you use the app, and maybe live a bit longer and happier if you know you’re buying something that’s a little better for you. No one will stop breathing because the air is polluted, it’s essential for life, but your favorite mascara isn’t. You’re quite hilarious, like a sarcastic joke (I was being sarcastic, btw). You’ll live a lot longer being happy, instead of angry and bitter. enjoy life, don’t complain about it, be grateful. 🙂
Just started using the app and love it, really makes you think about what you are buying, internet people are just that THE INTERNET they live in a fake world of make-believe
Of course the app isn’t perfect. There is no perfect. While one person may be watching calories, or particular preservatives or additives that they are sensitive too, another person has completely different needs. Yuka is providing information and guidance about POSSIBLE negative issues. It assumes that you can apply your own critical thinking to the information it provides. In case you haven’t read the package insert in aspirin or ibuprofen, it also provides a lot of information that you will have to decide what to do with. I think the app is a great way to gain information that might otherwise be very difficult to find. Thanks, Yuka!
Yuka is amazing! I don’t trust any one thing to be my end all be all. But it is a great resource on keeping me informed about chemicals and preservatives that I wish not to ingest or put on my body. I shouldn’t be marketed hair care products, that are mainly focused on women, with preservatives that are banned endocrine inhibiters, in other countries. Our country falls very short of protecting us from chemicals that are known to be hazardous, and Yuka is one layer of protection to keep me informed. I have paid for the premium app because I believe in their mission and thank them for remaining independent in order to help inform us and allow us to make our own decisions. I don’t care if my food has too many calories or sodium, I work out and need to fuel my body. I know what I am getting when buying an ice cream, but they break down why it scores poorly. I don’t expect that my ice cream is going to score “excellent” but I do expect that my ice cream is free from dangerous preservatives. And that is why I LOVE Yuka. I could not be happier with their product. I use it all the time to make informed decisions.