Where do the additive ratings come from?

A curated, hand-reviewed database. Every flagged additive cites a real source, like the FDA, EFSA, IARC, or a published toxicology review, not an AI guess.

Which foods get a Clean check?

Packaged foods with an ingredient list, usually from a barcode scan. A home-cooked photo has no label to read, so there's nothing to check.

How is the tier decided?

By the single riskiest additive. If anything on the list is high risk the whole product reads Avoid; otherwise it steps down through Caution, Mostly clean and Clean.

Are these additives dangerous?

This isn't medical advice, and Bazu doesn't diagnose or treat anything. It surfaces what published evidence says, some additives are linked to concerns worth knowing, so you can decide for yourself.

Bazu Score · Clean

The junk doesn't get past us

Bazu reads the ingredient list and flags the additives of concern: colors, sweeteners, preservatives and more.

Every flag citedCurated, not AI15 of your Bazu Score

How it works

From the label to a verdict

Behind the Clean check is a whole pipeline. Here is the journey, step by step.

You scan a packaged food

Bazu pulls its ingredient list, from the barcode or a photo of the label.

Every ingredient is read

Bazu parses the full ingredient list, name by name, synonyms and E-numbers included.

Matched against our additive database

Each ingredient is checked against a curated, evidence-cited database of food additives.

Each additive gets a severity

Colors, preservatives, sweeteners, and more, rated from clean to high risk, backed by real sources.

The worst one sets the tier

The single riskiest additive decides the headline: Clean, Mostly clean, Caution or Avoid.

It becomes part of your score

The tier is the Clean piece of your Bazu Score, 15 of every 100 points.

The tiers

The four tiers

Every packaged food lands in one of four tiers, set by its riskiest additive. The tier is the Clean piece of your Bazu Score, 15 of every 100 points.

Clean

100 points

No additives of concern. Fresh food with no list is clean too.

Mostly clean

67 points

Only low-risk additives on the label.

Caution

33 points

Has moderate-risk additives.

Avoid

0 points

Has a high-risk additive.

The worst one wins

One risky ingredient is never averaged away by everything around it.

It caps the Nutrition Score too

A high-risk additive holds that food's Nutrition Score at 55, whatever its label says.

How the Bazu Score works

What we check

What we flag

Bazu checks every class of additive on the label, and rates each one by how much concern the evidence shows.

CleanLow riskModerate riskHigh risk

Synthetic dyes added for a brighter look. Several, including the Southampton dyes, are linked to attention and hyperactivity in some children, and Red 3 recently had its FDA authorization revoked.

The database

We've done the homework

From colors to sweeteners to emulsifiers, every additive graded against the evidence.

additives reviewed

of concern

tiers

100%

flags cited

Red 3Red 40Yellow 5Yellow 6Blue 1Blue 2Green 3Citrus Red 2CarmineSucraloseAcesulfame KSaccharinSteviaErythritolXylitolSorbitolMaltitolCyclamateAspartameOlestraRed 3Red 40Yellow 5Yellow 6Blue 1Blue 2Green 3Citrus Red 2CarmineSucraloseAcesulfame KSaccharinSteviaErythritolXylitolSorbitolMaltitolCyclamateAspartameOlestra

NitritesSulfitesSodium benzoatePropyl gallateTBHQAzodicarbonamideMSGPhosphatesPolysorbate 80Mono- & diglyceridesCarboxymethylcelluloseXanthan gumGuar gumGellan gumLocust bean gumCarrageenanLecithinPectinCitric acidSodium citrateNitritesSulfitesSodium benzoatePropyl gallateTBHQAzodicarbonamideMSGPhosphatesPolysorbate 80Mono- & diglyceridesCarboxymethylcelluloseXanthan gumGuar gumGellan gumLocust bean gumCarrageenanLecithinPectinCitric acidSodium citrate

CleanLow riskModerate riskHigh risk

Where it comes from

Backed by evidence, not opinion

Every additive is graded against published regulators, cancer and toxicology reviews, and watchdog databases, curated by hand, not guessed by AI.

Regulators

Cancer & toxicology

Watchdogs & data

Ratings are informational and reflect published evidence, not a determination that any product is unsafe. Not medical advice.

FAQ

Common questions

Yes. The tier is the Clean piece of your Bazu Score, 15 of every 100 points. Each meal counts 100, 67, 33 or 0 by its tier, and your last 30 days average into the piece. A high-risk additive also caps that food's Nutrition Score at 55.