What is Yuka?  

Yuka is an independent product scanning app whose mission is to help consumers make better choices for their health. These days, it’s more important than ever to know what’s really going into our bodies, and product labels can be difficult to decipher. Yuka aims to provide a snapshot of the ingredients that go into our food and personal care products, and how those ingredients affect our bodies.  

With 56 million users across 12 countries, the app is highly regarded as a useful tool for consumer education. If you're in search of plant-based foods that align with the blue zones’ Eat Wisely pillar, such as beans, greens, whole grains and root vegetables, Yuka is an excellent resource to guide your grocery shopping! 

How does it work? 

Once you download the app to your phone, you can use it to scan any products’ barcode in-store. When you scan a product, a score will appear, along with a list of positives, negatives, and details about each ingredient. Yuka analyzes the nutritional value of the product scanned, and it lists the ingredients’ benefits or drawbacks. Products are scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A score of less than 20 is Bad, 20-50 is Poor, 50-75 is Good, and 75+ is Excellent.  

According to their website, Yuka’s scores for food products are calculated as follows: “Nutritional quality is 60% of the score, the presence of additives is 30% of the score, and the organic dimension is 10% of the score”. You can read more about how Yuka scores products here. 

The best part? Yuka has 100% transparency with their funding, doesn’t use ads, and cannot be influenced by brands or other 3rd parties. To fund the app, Yuka instead relies on premium member subscriptions and a few supplemental products, such as books and calendars.

So How Do Blue Zones Kitchen Meals Score On Yuka?

When you scan our Blueberry Steel Cut oatmeal bowl for example, you should instantly feel good about what you’re eating! Our oatmeal score is 90/100 - which is a near perfect score on Yuka. We’re not surprised though: our steel cut oatmeal is crafted with organic, gluten free, steel cut oats, fresh fruit, and nutrient-rich nuts. Our oatmeal bowls are free of refined sugar (sweetened with just a spoonful of maple syrup per bowl), low in sodium, calories and saturated fat, and an excellent source of fiber and protein. The blue zones community in Loma Linda, California, who inspired this power breakfast, doesn’t need an app to tell them that whole grains, fruits, and nuts are the best way to start your day! But we’re glad that resources like the Yuka app can help tout the tremendous benefits of eating the blue zones way.