How aToxiq rates products: Clean, Use Caution and Avoid

aToxiq rates food, personal care and household products by reading what is actually in them. We match every ingredient on the label against the aToxiq Ingredient Glossary, where each ingredient has its own rating and the research behind it.

The three ratings

• Clean — every ingredient we know of is rated Clean, and the organic rules below are met.
• Use Caution — nothing we would avoid, but at least one ingredient worth limiting. Think of it as the practical next step.
• Avoid — at least one ingredient with stronger evidence of harm, such as certain synthetic dyes or preservatives.

One ingredient can decide the rating

A product takes the rating of its most concerning ingredient. A cereal can be mostly whole grains, but if its label lists Red 40, it is rated Avoid. We do this because you cannot remove a single ingredient from a product you buy.

Practical allowances

We want ratings people can live with, so a few ingredients get a middle rating rather than Avoid:

• Fragrance and natural flavours are rated Use Caution. Their recipes are undisclosed, so we cannot call them Clean, but they are not automatically harmful.
• Seed oils such as canola oil are rated Avoid, unless they are organic and cold- or expeller-pressed, which brings them to Use Caution.
• Organic matters for some foods. Dairy, meat, poultry, eggs and high-pesticide produce must be organic for a product to be rated Clean; otherwise it is rated Use Caution and we tell you why.

When we cannot rate a product yet

If some of a product’s ingredients are not in our glossary yet, we show No flags found with how much of the label we could check, instead of calling it Clean. Products picked by our team that are still waiting for an ingredient check are marked as pending.

Where the information comes from

Product and ingredient lists come from open databases such as Open Food Facts and from brands directly, and are re-checked regularly. Always check the package in your hand: formulas change.

Independent ratings

aToxiq may earn a commission when you buy from a vetted vendor. That never changes a rating: the same rules apply to every product, whether we sell it or not.