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Why Your Snack Got a Score
Yuka is pushing brands to clean up their ingredients as shoppers scan and score their way through the grocery aisle.
Kieran Ryan
May 05, 2025
TODAY’S STORY
Food scanning apps like Yuka are reshaping how people shop and what retailers stock.
Launched in France in 2017, Yuka allows users to scan product barcodes to receive a health score out of 100, calculated through an algorithm that draws on medical research and trusted sources. Scores above 75 are considered excellent, above 50 are good, over 25 are mediocre, and anything below 25 is rated as bad.
Yuka’s impact is especially evident in France, where it has 21 million users. As its popularity grew, manufacturers began reformulating products to improve their scores. Since 2019, French supermarket chain Intermarché has reformulated more than 1,100 items, removing approximately 140 additives.
Yuka now appears poised to drive similar changes in the United States. The app has 14 million users in the U.S., including President Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife. Kennedy stated that HHS would support the development of similar tools by other companies.
In the age of Yuka, even your cookies need a clean résumé.
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Kieran & Justin Ryan
