The Yuka app, which reveals the nutritional profiles of packaged foods, has already been downloaded by 2 million Italians in just one year. A success achieved without advertising campaigns, but firmly anchored on 4 factors. Free, immediate, reliable, and independent.
Yuka, a great help in choosing packaged foods and cosmetics
Yuka App
is downloaded for free to the smartphone, which, by scanning the barcode, reveals in a snap:
– The nutritional profile of a food, through the
NutriScore
,
– The possible presence of food additives that the scientific literature indicates are potentially problematic for health,
– the added value of organic,
– the alternative products to be preferred, based on the above evaluation elements. 60 points are given for NutriScore score, 30 for additives, 10 extra points to organic products.
The mysteries of cosmetics are also revealed by Yuka App, which decodes their composition (Inci) and highlights the possible presence of substances suspected or proven to be harmful to health.
An increasingly comprehensive database
On-shelf products in Italy assessed by the Yuka app now number more than 2 million. Each user can also contribute to enrich the database by entering data on foods and cosmetics that are still missing.
Yuka has 25 million users in 12 different countries. Since its launch in January 2017, it is experiencing the fastest growth in Italy. ‘This is Yuka’s best launch compared to any other country. In France, where it was launched first, it had only one million users after the first year‘, declare the founders. ‘This success in Italy shows that we are responding to a genuine need for transparency about product composition,’ adds co-founder Julie Chapon.
Independence
The French team of Yuka’s founders are keen to point out that the application is completely independent of industry, food and cosmetics, and large-scale retail trade (GDO). The venture is funded by the premium version of the app and other activities (a book and a calendar, soon to be available in Italian), as previously reported (1,2).
Independence and freedom in judgments has already led to some trouble. In fact, the French charcuterie association has dragged the app’s founders to court for their critical stances on nitrates, preservatives almost always added in meat preparations, which should be consumed in extreme moderation because they are harmful to humans, as we have seen. (3)
Operation Transparency
Those who know it spread it. In just 12 months, the tam-tam among consumAtors has fostered the spread of this useful tool for information and help in making purchasing choices.
The NutriScore of individual products is thus also shown in Italy, where the industrial and agricultural lobbies continue to oppose its labeling. (4)
The power of consumAtors in an App
The power of consumAtors is also expressed in this way. Increasingly less deluded by promotional offers and more concerned about health, sustainability and wellness, (5) thanks in part to Yuka, consumers can decide to leave products with unbalanced nutritional profiles and problematic additives on the shelf.
So demand changes and supply will change, as large-scale retailers-well aware of product rotations on the shelf-will be able to stimulate the industry to improve recipes and increase the sustainability of products, food and cosmetics. We are therefore pleased to have been the first to celebrate the landing of this beautiful innovation in Italy.
Consumption 4.0, health and sustainability. Sustainable Development Goals #SDG3 and #SDG12.
Marta Strinati and Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Marta Strinati, Dario Dongo. Yuka, the app that unmasks unbalanced foods, arrives in Italy. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 9/22/20, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/arriva-in-italia-yuka-la-app-che-smaschera-gli-alimenti-squilibrati
(2) Marta Strinati. Yuka, the app that helps you choose foods. Our test. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 11/30/20, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/yuka-la-app-che-aiuta-a-scegliere-gli-alimenti-il-nostro-test
(3) Marta Strinati, Dario Dongo. Yuka app condemned in Paris for battles against nitrites and nitrates. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 10.6.21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/la-app-yuka-condannata-a-parigi-per-le-battaglie-contro-nitriti-e-nitrati
(4) Dario Dongo. NutriScore, Ferrero and Coldiretti against all. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 7/16/21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/nutriscore-ferrero-e-coldiretti-contro-tutti
(5) Marta Strinati. Post-Covid Italy in the snapshot of the Coop Report 2021. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/l-italia-post-covid-nello-scatto-del-rapporto-coop-2021
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
