I spent a magical New Year’s Eve in Muskoka this year. Along with the usual holiday festivities, we played lots of games: Mexican Train, Wordle, Spelling Bee, Connections, and more.

Another game, new to me, emerged from a mobile app called Yuka. It unexpectedly became a big part of our fun and games.

Yuka is a free app that lets you better understand the nutritional value of a multitude of foods and cosmetics by simply scanning their barcodes.

What makes it unique is that a quick scan instantly ranks an item from zero to 100.

If this doesn’t sound interesting, trust me, it is!

“This bread gets an amazing Yuka score,” said my sister, as we were making lunch. The bread, a delicious but bland-looking white loaf from big-box store Walmart, not a health food or specialty store, scored a perfect 100. (Yuka then told us why it was so highly rated.)

Why it’s fun

The app doesn’t present any new nutritional information. Instead, it distills the info-heavy nutrional label down to one number out of a possible 100.

• 75-100 = excellent; 50-74 = good; 25-49 = mediocre; <25 = poor

It’s this score that makes it fun, and the scores can sometimes be surprising.

For example:

• Secret antiperspirant/deodorant: 6, but Speed Stick deodorant: 79

• Dempster Oats and Honey bread: 49, but Dempster 12-Grain bread: 69

• PC Blue Label Memories of Szechwan sauce: 72

• Canapé melba toast: 27

• PC peanuts-only peanut butter: 100

I’m not a tonic drinker, but I was surprised that it rated zero! Yuka reports that it contains “additives to avoid” and is “too caloric.”

I’ve discovered that chemical additives/food colouring are frequently the culprit responsible for an unexpected low ranking (including the melba toast and bread noted above).

Fruits and vegetables aren’t rated since they would all rate 100. Alcohol and items from small indepenent brands and some bigger private labels (e.g., Costco’s Kirkland brand) are also not rated.

Bonus Info

An extra I really appreciate: the Better Choices (three or four healthier name brand alternatives) the app offers for items that have lower scores.

The Yuka app was created in France in 2011 and introduced to Canada in 2020. It prides itself on being completely independent and objective regarding its ratings, analysis, and product recommendations.

Kudos to the creators!