Yuka

Yuka helps shoppers understand what is inside the products they buy. Scan a product with the camera and the program reads the ingredient list, then gives the item a colour-coded grade that runs from excellent down to poor. Each product also has a detail page explaining how that grade came about, so the result is never just a bare label.

Food is judged on three measures: nutritional value, additives and whether the product is organic. For beauty and personal care items, every single ingredient is assigned a risk level drawn from current scientific research. When something scores badly, the program suggests a comparable product with a better rating. According to the developer, brands cannot influence the verdicts, and the software shows no advertising.

It fits anyone who reads labels in the supermarket and wants a faster way to compare items. A camera and an internet connection are needed, because product information is fetched from an online database.