YenzoHow Yenzo scores food
One public formula, the same for every product and every brand. You can follow every step and check any result yourself.
The principles
- AI reads, the formula decides. AI is used only to transcribe the text on the label. It never sets or adjusts a score.
- Same product, same result. A product gets one score for everyone.
- Ads never affect scores. No brand can pay for a better result.
- Facts, not labels. We describe what's in a product (“high in salt”), never call a brand or product “dangerous” or “fake”.
What goes into the score
1. Nutrition (per 100 g or 100 ml)
Sugar, saturated fat and salt lower the score as they rise. Fibre and protein can raise it. Values come from the nutrition table on the pack.
2. Additives
Each additive (E-number or its Vietnamese name, such as “chất điều vị (621)”) gets a risk level. Vietnam is the first tier. Circular 24/2019/TT-BYT is the list of permitted additives: Vietnam decides whether an additive is legal, science decides its risk level. An additive not permitted in Vietnam that the evaluations put at the moderate or high level counts at the high level, and the score of a product with it is at most 39. An additive missing from the permitted list that the evaluations put at the very low or low level keeps that level (it does not count as high), but the score of a product with it is at most 59 (“Moderate”). Science is the second tier, only where the Vietnamese text is silent: the conclusions of JECFA, EFSA and regulators, by the rules below. Higher levels lower the score more.
| Level | When |
|---|---|
| High | Not permitted in Vietnam and at the moderate or high level by the evaluations; or neither JECFA nor EFSA has an ADI (never set or withdrawn); or withdrawn for safety reasons with no ADI kept anywhere; or a direct conclusion about health at the intake from food (nitrites and nitrates) |
| Moderate | The evaluators disagree (one withdrew it, another keeps an ADI); a temporary ADI, or no ADI from one evaluator while another has one; a live safety restriction despite an ADI (the EU warning on six colours, the EU limits on aluminium compounds); removed from the EU list with no finding of harm |
| Low | Has an ADI and none of the above |
| Very low | Needs no numerical ADI and none of the above |
Intake above the ADI in some group does not raise the level by itself. The full rules and every additive are in the Yenzo Scale.
3. Degree of processing
We estimate how processed a product is from its ingredient list. Ultra-processed products are scored lower.
From score to colour
Internally, each product gets a value from 0 to 100. In the app you see it as one of five levels:
| Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Excellent | Among the best in its category |
| Good | A solid everyday choice |
| Moderate | Fine in moderation |
| Poor | Several nutritional or additive concerns |
| Avoid | Best kept rare |
Tap “Why?” on any result to see the full breakdown: every factor and how much it moved the score.
Products for children
Under 3 (formula, complementary food). Circular 24/2019 permits only a short list of additives in these foods (Codex GSFA categories 13.1 and 13.2). An additive outside that list counts at the high level, and the score is at most 39; so does a sweetener or colour printed only by its class name, with no code (none is on the list).
From 3. Vietnam has no rule of its own, so the second tier applies: colours with the EU's warning about activity and attention in children, sweeteners and added caffeine lower the score more than in an ordinary product. Who a product is for is read from the label: an age, a formula stage, “cho bé”, “trẻ em”.
Child profile
For a child profile, thresholds for sugar, salt and certain additives are stricter, so the same product may land on a lower level.
Incomplete data
If the ingredient list or the nutrition table was not photographed, the app shows no level and asks for that photo. If the label simply does not print some rows, the level is shown with a note of what the pack does not state.
Found a mistake?
Use “Report an error” on any result in the app, or email support@yenzo.app.