Have you ever wondered about the safety of the products you use every day? The EWG’s Healthy Living app was developed by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving chemical safety in the US, to provide you with answers. EWG pushes industries to adopt their standards and to say no to harmful chemicals. They also educate consumers with actionable information to inspire demand for safer products. Let’s take a closer look at how this app works and why it’s a handy tool for your everyday choices.
How It Works and Features
The app EWG’s Healthy Living is completely free and available for download on both the Apple Store and Google Play Store. The app rates personal care products, food, and household cleaners. They also have a special category called “EWG Verified” where products with the EWG Verified Mark are highlighted. This mark means that these products meet the strict criteria set by EWG, indicating they are free from chemicals of concern and meet their highest standards for health and transparency.
The app has over 120,000 ratings of products across all categories. You can either search for a product or scan its barcode. If the product is in their database, you will get a result along with its score. Taping on the product reveals its full list of ingredients. Tapping on an ingredient gives you more information about it. Each ingredient gets a score, and then the product gets an overall score based on all the individual ingredients and the amount of research available on them.
If you’re most interested in recommendations rather than searching for a particular product, you can browse by category. For example, if you are looking for good shampoo options (image below), you would select “Personal Care Products” then “Hair Care,” and further narrow it down to “Shampoo”. The recommendations will show the EWG Verified products first and gradually move down to products with lower and worse scores.
In addition to these capabilities, the app also allows users to actively contribute by submitting products that aren't yet in their database for review.
Product Rating System
The EWG’s Healthy Living app rates each product considering factors like ingredient links to cancer, allergens, endocrine disruption, neurotoxicity, irritation, and developmental and reproductive toxicity. This rating process involves two components: hazard and data availability. The hazard score ranges from 1 to 10, reflecting the potential risks linked to ingredients. Products with an EWG Verified mark and those scoring 1-2 are considered low-risk, 3-6 are moderate-risk, and 7-10 are high-risk.
Data availability assesses the amount of scientific research on the product or ingredient. The app calculates an overall score by considering ingredient hazards and data availability. The safest products have low hazard ratings and sufficient data support.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The EWG’s Healthy Living App, stands out as a comprehensive and user-friendly tool for anyone looking for safer products. It goes beyond just providing information to consumers. Through its robust rating system and the “EWG Verified” category, the app actively encourages industries to adopt higher safety standards. By setting a gold standard for safety, the app creates a powerful incentive for companies to prioritize and adhere to these standards. The broad coverage of various categories reflects EWG’s commitment to holistic well-being. The app is for those who want more than ratings– it’s a trusted companion for cleaner, safer choices.
This review was written by Laura Custodio, ZBCProgram & Digital Media Manager
FAQs
The broad coverage of various categories reflects EWG's commitment to holistic well-being. The app is for those who want more than ratings– it's a trusted companion for cleaner, safer choices.
Is there an app that tells you what products are good and bad? ›
Yuka is a free mobile app that allows you to scan the barcodes of food and personal care products and instantly see their impact on your health. A rating and detailed information help you understand the analysis of each product.
What app does Kourtney Kardashian use to check products? ›
Just scan a barcode, search by name or browse by category, and EWG will give you an easy-to-understand 1 to 10 score (1 being the best!), backed by science you can trust. Better beauty and healthy living have never been easier. Get the app that Kourtney Kardashian trusts!
How much is the EWG Healthy Living app? ›
Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a non-profit whose mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. EWG's Healthy Living App is a free app that rates more than 120,000 food and personal care products.
What is the EWG controversy? ›
Environmental Working Group has opposed the use of zero carbon nuclear energy and faced criticism for its scientific methods and exaggerations of toxicological risks.
Should you trust EWG? ›
EWG Verified® recognizes products that meet EWG's strictest standards for your health. This means none of EWG's chemicals of concern. This means full transparency. This means a mark you can trust.
Can the Yuka app be trusted? ›
'Based on reviews, it seems fairly accurate, although full testing is needed to understand this,' says registered dietitian Chrissy Arsenault. Coe adds that Yuka seems accurate and reliable, but, as with all food scanning apps, there may be discrepancies.
What is the app that tells you if products are toxic? ›
"With a tool like Think Dirty, consumers can help find and promote good companies that are using non-toxic ingredients. You shouldn't have to be a toxicologist to know how to find safer products."
What is the app that checks if a product is healthy? ›
Yuka scans food & personal care products to decipher their ingredients and evaluate their impact on your health. In a world of incomprehensible labels, Yuka provides clarity in one quick scan so you can make clear-sighted purchases.
What site is better than EWG? ›
Top 7 Competitors & Alternatives to ewg.org
The closest competitor to ewg.org are heb.com, incidecoder.com and skinsafeproducts.com. To understand more about ewg.org and its competitors, sign up for a free account to explore Semrush's Traffic Analytics and Market Explorer tools.
When people first use our app, they tend to be shocked when they look up their go-to products and find that many are rated an 8 in our system. Unfortunately, scoring an 8 in the Think Dirty book means that the ingredients can carry potentially serious negative long-term health effects.
How does the Yuka app work? ›
Scan the labels of your. food and cosmetic products
Yuka analyzes hygiene and cosmetic products. You get a detailed data sheet for each product to help you understand its score. When you scan a product that scores poorly, Yuka offers independent recommendations for similar items that are better for your health.
What is the best app for healthy living? ›
Currently, in the market, the most popular health and fitness apps are:
- Strava: Run, Bike, Hike. Quickly rising in popularity, Strava enables GPS-based tracking. ...
- Yuka. This app allows you to scan supermarket products and evaluate them through color-based results. ...
- MyFitnessPal. ...
- SweatCoin. ...
- Calm. ...
- Noom. ...
- FitCoach. ...
- Headspace.
To fund EWG Verified and EWG Reviewed for Science, companies pay a fee to participate. Q: What is the cost of EWG Reviewed for Science? A: The cost depends on the size of the company, the number of products being assessed and the timeline. Our consultancy engagements range from one month to a year in duration.
Is EWG government owned? ›
EWG is an independent nonprofit organization largely funded by individual donations and grants from charitable foundations.
Is EWG a legitimate organization? ›
EWG is an independent nonprofit organization largely funded by individual donations and grants from charitable foundations.
How reliable is the Yuka app? ›
'Based on reviews, it seems fairly accurate, although full testing is needed to understand this,' says registered dietitian Chrissy Arsenault. Coe adds that Yuka seems accurate and reliable, but, as with all food scanning apps, there may be discrepancies.
