Scan a barcode and instantly know if that food is good, normal or bad. Or at least find out if it has been recommended by relevant government agencies. From time to time, doubts arise as to which is the best olive oil on the Spanish market, the best fried tomato or the jams with the best ratio between fruit pulp and sugar. With these apps available in iOS for any iPhone 4 or higheryou can leave doubts.
Among the most popular applications, there are three that have gained some authority thanks to their community and their recommendations. All give a sample of the composition of the food and its quality based on the nutritional criteria of the NUTRI-SCORE and other systems such as the popular Chilean black seals, the Brazilian NOVA and the advice of certain independent bodies. As we can see, and despite a certain rigor, no application can compare to a thorough analysis in the laboratorystrict control of traceability and the consensus of bodies dedicated to each type of food — whether cheese, vegetables or extra virgin olive oil —.
Yuka, users’ favorite app
Currently, Yuka is the most downloaded and used app on iOS for product scanning. Developed in 2017, it has a score of 4.8 out of 5 and a database with over 25 million users. Its classification system is based on three criteria: NutriScore (60%), the presence of additives (30%) and the European organic label (10%).
Yuka measures the nutritional quality of the product according to the macronutrients (calories, sugar, salt, saturated fat, etc.) and micronutrients (vitamins, antioxidants, proteins, etc.). The scale is the same as that used by the official French NUTRI-SCORE, whose quality is evaluated from the letter A to E, by color from green to red, from best to worst.
The level of impact of additives is based on independent studies and opinions issued by official bodies such as the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), the CONSIDERED (National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety) and the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). When a product is classified as “at risk”, the application offers sources of consultation and the conclusions of the latest published health studies.
On the other hand, Yuka boasts of complete independence – its income statement can be publicly downloaded. French nutritionist Anthony Berthou, author of several books on sport and training, professor of health and sport, is the expert source behind Yuka.
MyRealFood, a more social proposal
Number 7 in downloads in the Health section, ‘MyRealFood’ is a popular app founded by the controversial nutritionist Carlos Ríos, author of books such as ‘Comida Real’ or ‘Cocina Comida Real’. Gradually the application drifted towards a more social system, with recipes and diets, with photos and a complete step by step.
Your scoring is based on two systems: NOVA and the Chilean black stamp system. NOVA was developed by a group of professionals from the School of Public Health of the University of Sao Paulo, in 2010. This system classifies foods into four groups: Group 1, natural or minimally processed; Group 2, ingredients for the preparation; Group 3 (processed foods); and Group 4, ultra-processed.
The Chilean Black Seal System, endorsed by the country’s Ministry of Health, meanwhile was approved in the country in 2016 and measures impact and quality based on its calorie index, amount of fat, of sugar and sodium. MyRealFood is also part of a group of processing products initiatives and collaborations with expert nutritionists.
CoCo, another “science” alternative
Finally, CoCo is a contraction of ‘The Conscious Consumer’ and offers another application to find out nutritional information by scanning barcodes like Yuka, with the difference that it uses three measurement systems: the NOVA system, the Chilean alert system and the Nutrient Profile Modelcreated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and whose classification index divides foods into 17 categories or taxonomies according to their family (meat, fish, legumes, pasta, vegetable oils, etc.).
Developed in Barcelona three years ago, CoCo is the only 100% free of the three, self-funded and with a scoring system from zero (0) to ten (10). Advised by Juan Revenga, biologist and dietitian-nutritionistthe application also provides guidelines and advice for better, healthy and sustainable food.
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