Viral supermarket scanning app sparks social media uproar
Popular supermarket products have come under fire from a trendy health scanning app – but is its ranking system trustworthy?
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A viral video has shocked the fitness community after a popular food rating app, Yuka, gave the Rokeby’s Protein Choc Honeycomb Shake a score of zero out of 100, leaving fans of the beloved drink demanding answers.
In the video, which has racked up over 260,000 views, Mitchell Humbert – the founder of nutrition support website Mr Health – is seen scanning the Rokeby’s shake in a supermarket aisle using the Yuka app.
“This might cause a few issues because it’s a fan favourite,” he begins.
“Oh, I actually didn’t think it was going to be this bad,” he says after scanning the item, visibly surprised.
“Zero out of 100. It’s shocking for you. Put it down.”
The shake is a staple for many fitness buffs and contains filtered low-fat milk, cream, erythritol, cocoa powder, natural flavours, lactase enzyme, carrageenan, and stevia.
Nutritionally, it has 253 calories, 30 grams of protein, 6.4 grams of fat, 18.3 grams of carbs, and 16.6 grams of sugar per serve.
Fans shocked by rating
The reaction was immediate, with comments flooding in from confused and frustrated fans.
“Nooo I love this drink,” wrote one.
“Oh no, it’s my favourite,” said another.
“Please tell me what it’s bad for? Personally, at around 250 calories and 30g protein on the go, I don’t see an issue with it?” asked a third.
Others questioned the app’s credibility: “Something suss is going on here … The vanilla one scans 49/100. Same drink different flavour …” and “The app is flawed. It says my pure butter is poor and the chemical spread is good,” another user claimed.
A spokesperson for Rokeby told news.com.au: “Rokeby Protein Smoothies contain 30 grams of whole natural protein made with local milk and real high-quality ingredients, delivering great nutrition our consumers love. We encourage consumers to seek out trusted, professional sources for nutritional information and advice”.
The viral food scanner
Launched in France in 2017, Yuka allows users to scan the barcodes of food and cosmetic products in stores or at home, instantly assigning them a score to indicate how “healthy” it considers the item.
Since its international expansion in 2022, Yuka has exploded in use, with more than 56 million users worldwide.
After scanning a product, Yuka assigns a health value out of 100, with corresponding colour codes: excellent (dark green), good (light green), poor (orange), or bad (red).
The score is generated by an algorithm weighing three factors: nutritional quality, the presence and risk level of additives, and whether the product is organic.
Yuka uses the European ‘Nutri-Score’ system to assess nutritional quality, rewarding high protein and fibre, and penalising high sugar, salt, saturated fat, and calories.
The app’s in-house experts classify over 600 food additives as high, moderate, limited, or risk-free, based on scientific research. Organic certification gives products a small bonus.
The app is known for its strict approach, especially towards additives and calories.
Even products with seemingly “clean” ingredient lists (like the Rokeby shake) can be penalised if they contain additives like carrageenan (a seaweed-derived additive) or natural sweeteners such as stevia.
Nutrition experts weigh in
Yuka’s scoring system has drawn criticism from nutrition experts.
Some say the Nutri-Score system is outdated, especially in how it penalises calories and fails to distinguish between natural and added sugars, according to The New York Times.
Experts also point out that giving so much weight to additives may be excessive, since much of the research is based on animal studies or observational data that does not always translate to real-world risks for humans.
There is also debate over including organic status, as there is no proven nutritional benefit to organic foods over conventional ones.
Despite these concerns, experts do agree that Yuka’s focus on limiting highly processed foods aligns with broader public health advice.
However, they caution that labelling foods as simply “good” or “bad” could contribute to disordered eating, and that most whole foods – fruits, vegetables, nuts – don’t even have barcodes to scan.
Content creator responds to backlash
Mr Humbert, whose video of him using the app went viral, told news.com.au he highly values the tool and thinks it’s helpful for people who struggle to understand nutrition labels.
“Most of the time, the criticism of my videos comes from people who aren’t fully educated on nutrition and are simply upset to learn that the products they regularly consume aren’t as healthy as they thought,” he said.
“It can be confronting — no one likes to be told their go-to snacks might be doing more harm than good.
“People are genuinely shocked once they see the truth behind some of these everyday products, and they appreciate having a tool that helps them make better choices.”
News.com.au has reached out to Yuka for comment.
Originally published as Viral supermarket scanning app sparks social media uproar
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