Yuka and other apps are influencing shoppers’ purchasing habits; ‘There are a lot of opinions out there’
“Some in the food industry see the future of food labeling in Yuka and similar mobile apps. As consumers increasingly scroll their phones to decide what to eat, such apps are one way to render immediate judgment on a product. Often, they suggest what they deem to be healthier alternatives. [..]
Adoption of the apps has been fueled by the same skepticism toward food ingredients, companies and regulators that animates the “Make America Healthy Again” movement spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary. [..]
Yuka launched in France in 2017 and in the U.S. three years later. Nearly one-third of Yuka’s 68 million users are in the U.S., [Yuka’s chief executive Julie] Chapon said, and an average of 25,000 new U.S. users have joined daily since the start of the year. At the beginning of May, it ranked as the No. 1 health-and-fitness app in Apple’s app store.
Chapon and her two co-founders moved to New York in 2023 to manage what she said is now a roughly $7 million business globally. Yuka’s rating system is based on a nutrition label used in some European countries, plus recommendations by global health organizations and independent studies reviewed by the app’s scientific team.
Chapon said the app isn’t affiliated with the MAHA movement.
She said that in France, the number of additives in food products declined as Yuka grew in popularity. Noting the app’s influence, French supermarket chain Intermarché since 2019 has reformulated more than 1,100 products, removing about 140 additives.
Besides Yuka, similar tools include the Bobby Approved app, developed by social-media influencer and food personality Bobby Parrish, which gives groceries a thumbs-up or thumbs-down based on ingredients. Health-tech startup FoodHealth Company has created a scoring system that is embedded into the apps of retailers like Kroger. [..]
Critics said apps like Yuka still need work. Their results are often flawed and require better food databases and government standards, said Jerold Mande, an adjunct nutrition professor at Harvard and former Food and Drug Administration official who helped design its nutrition facts label.
Still, Mande, who uses Yuka and Open Food Facts when he shops, said the apps are set for a bigger following.
Chapon said that Yuka’s methodology isn’t perfect. She said nutrition is complex, and that the company is working to educate consumers more broadly through its blog and other forums.”
Full article, J Newman, Wall Street Journal, 2025.5.5