Is Yuka the future of “name & shame” activism?

By Paul Constance

I was just about to open a dusty packet of instant ramen that fell out of my pantry last week when I remembered to consult Yuka, a food and cosmetics rating app used by 83 million people.

Ouch! My vintage ramen scored 30 out of possible 100 points (thanks to five “high-risk” additives and excessive sodium). Duly chastised, I put the packet back on a shelf with other items I’m saving for the apocalypse.

Yuka was launched in 2017 in Paris. According to the Washington Post, “In France, where Yuka says one in three citizens have signed up since its launch, the app appears to be acting as an unofficial food regulator. The supermarket chain Intermarché, noting the app’s influence, has reformulated more than 2,300 private-label products, removing controversial additives, reducing sodium levels and slashing added sugars.”

If you know anything about the history of nutrition label activism, this is a big deal. For decades, processed food producers around the world have resisted efforts to label their products in ways that reveal their true health risks. This intransigence mobilized generations of activists, public health officials, scientists and legislators who pushed for better nutrition label laws.

Food producers fought back with every tool in their arsenal. But in countries as varied as Argentina, Canada and Singapore, activists gradually exposed both the dangers of ultra-processed foods and the dirty tactics that companies use to avoid accountability. Thanks to these efforts, nutrition labels in most countries are now far more informative (though not always honest).

Such “naming and shaming” strategies have long been the backbone of advocacy campaigns in areas as varied as human rights, animal welfare, anti-corruption, extractive industries and decarbonization. By generating awareness (principally through traditional media channels) activists would create public outrage and pressure on elected officials who would then push for enforcement or stronger legislation.

Amid rising authoritarianism and cratering trust in institutions and the media, however, many activists worry that shaming strategies are no longer effective.

Could apps like Yuka give new life to this approach? Yuka includes a “call out” feature that instantly contacts companies about products with additives that a consumer does not want. That simple feature replaces the complex influence pathways of traditional activism with a direct, unmediated link between consumers and producers.

And because of Yuka’s astonishing scale, this kind of shaming seems to work. For now, the app is only available in the United States and 11 European countries. Yuka’s developers say it is growing by more than 25,000 users per day, and they intend to gradually introduce it to more countries.

Instant ramen will have nowhere to hide.