The App Review: EWG's Healthy Living

Each week we review a food related app. This week it’s EWG's Healthy Living – find out what the Lempert Report thought.

What it says it does: From food to shampoo – we are exposed to chemicals every second, yet we know very little about them. To navigate this complicated world and make safer choices, EWG combined two of their most popular resources to form the Healthy Living App. Now, the product health and safety ratings for over 200,000 food and cosmetics products are simply one click away.

What it actually does: The EWG’s app helps shoppers cut through cluttered food labels so that they can better understand what’s in their food. Food Scores rates more than 80,000 foods, 5,000 ingredients and 1,500 brands. Products are rated on a 1 to 10 scale, based on three elements: nutrition, ingredient concerns and degree of processing. Nutrition is weighted most heavily, followed by ingredient concerns and processing. Scan a product, review its rating, it’s pros and cons and make a more informed choice.

How useful is the information for target audience?: The app is great for those who want to know more about the foods they are eating, or want to find healthier options in the grocery store. The app doesn’t take all of the guess work out of shopping as shoppers will ultimately still have to make their own decisions based on the pros and cons of each product.

Ease of use: EWG's Healthy Living is easy to use, just scan or enter the name of the item and check out the rating.

Who would best benefit from the app?: Anyone who is interested in knowing more details about their food – from nutrition to processing - and well as household and beauty products.

Cost: Free
Rating: 91/100
Visual: 15 (1-15)
Usability: 12 (1-15)
Content: 22 (1-25)
Usefulness: 22 (1-25)
Value: 10 (1- 10)
Options: 10 (1- 10)

Click here for more info.