NutraSafe vs Yuka: what each app does
Yuka is a barcode scanner that grades a product 0 to 100 and lists what's in it. We're a UK food and health diary with additives in plain English, calories, 13 vitamins and 12 minerals against UK NRVs, reactions, workouts and fasting in one place. Two different jobs. This page helps you pick.
Last reviewed: 4 September 2026 · Yuka pricing and scoring method checked against Yuka's own listings on that date.
NutraSafe
A food and health diary. Log a meal, see the additives in plain English, watch vitamins and minerals fill in against UK NRVs as you log. Workouts, fasting and reactions in the same diary. AI Coach reads it all on Pro.
Yuka
A barcode scanner. Point it at a packet and Yuka returns a 0 to 100 grade plus a list of additives. No daily diary, no calorie tracking, no vitamin tracking. Designed for quick at-the-shelf decisions.
Side-by-side comparison
Price, platform, what each app covers. Where we know a Yuka figure, we cite it. Where we don't, we say "check the app's listing" rather than guessing.
| Feature | NutraSafe | Yuka |
|---|---|---|
| Price (paid tier) | £3.99 / month, iOSFree download. Free tier covers the basics. | £10 a year for Premium£15 and £20 options buy nothing extra, they are optional support. Free basic tier with grade and ingredient list. |
| What kind of app | Food and health diaryFood, additives, vitamins, workouts, fasting, reactions, AI Coach. | Barcode scanner with a gradePoint, scan, read the grade and ingredient breakdown. |
| Calories & macros | Daily diary, per meal, per dayWith a daily target you set. | Per-product label data onlyNo daily diary. |
| Vitamins & minerals | 13 vitamins, 12 minerals vs UK NRVUpdates as you log. | Per-product label data onlyNo daily intake tracking. |
| Additive library | Plain English, per additiveEFSA, FSA, NHS, WHO, IARC cited per line. | Yes, with per-product flagsCheck the app for current coverage. |
| How the verdict is built | Shown as parts, not one numberAdditive lines, composition strips, NRV bars you can read separately. | 60% nutrition, 30% additives, 10% organicCapped at 49/100 if a high-risk additive is present. Source: Yuka help centre. |
| UK supermarket coverage | Built around UK shopsTesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op, Waitrose. | UK App Store, mixed own-label coverageBranded multinationals usually scan. |
| Reactions / triggers | Log how you felt, see patternsSuspected triggers analysis on Pro. | Not in scope |
| Workouts | Sets, reps, weight, Apple WatchPro feature. | Not in scope |
| Fasting timer | 16:8, 5:2 or your patternPro feature. | Not in scope |
| AI Coach | Reads your diary, suggests, sets goalsPro feature. | Not in scope |
| Single product score | None on food cardsComposition strips, additive flags, watchlist warnings. | Yes, 0 to 100 per product |
How Yuka builds its 0 to 100 score
Yuka publishes its method, which is the honest way to answer whether the score is accurate. Three inputs go in, in fixed proportions, and one of them can override the other two. Figures below are Yuka's own, from its help centre, checked 4 September 2026.
60% nutritional quality
The largest share, calculated on the Nutri-Score method: sugar, salt, saturated fat, calories, protein, fibre and fruit and vegetable content. This is why cheese, nuts and olive oil often score low on a short ingredient list. The nutrition half is doing it, not the additives half.
Nutri-Score based30% additives
Benchmarked against EFSA and IARC positions plus independent research. One rule sits on top of the arithmetic: if Yuka classes an additive as high risk, the product cannot score above 49 out of 100 whatever the rest of the label says.
Capped at 4910% organic bonus
A flat bonus for products carrying an official national or international organic label. It is a certification check rather than a measurement of the food, so two otherwise identical products can differ by ten points on the label alone.
CertificationWhat NutraSafe does
Yuka's job is one scan at a time. Our job is the week. Same food card you scan at the shelf rolls up into your day, your micronutrients, your patterns, and the chat with the Coach. Seven scanners, Yuka included, are tested against UK packs in our best food scanner apps uk roundup.
Log food by barcode, name or photo
Scan, search or photograph. Calories, macros, vitamins, minerals and additives go in together. Free tier covers up to 25 logs a day.
Free + ProAdditives and E-numbers in plain English
What each one is, where it shows up, and what the regulator has published on it. EFSA, FSA, NHS, WHO and IARC cited where published evidence exists. On a scan the count is free; naming each one and what it does is Pro.
Library + ProVitamins and minerals against UK NRVs
13 vitamins and 12 minerals. As you log, bars fill in against the UK NRV so you can see where you're running short.
Daily + weekly viewWorkout tracking in the same diary
Sets, reps, weight, personal bests. Apple Watch if you train with one. Pro feature.
ProA fasting timer in the same app
16:8, 5:2 or build your own. Timer, history, streak, right next to the food. Pro feature.
ProFood reaction tracking
Log how you felt, mood, gut, skin. The diary surfaces foods that line up with the rough days. We don't diagnose; we give you something solid to bring to a clinician.
Free + ProThe own-label problem, which is a British problem
Most scanner reviews are written about branded products, because branded products are what scan reliably everywhere. A British trolley is not mostly branded products. It is Tesco Finest, Sainsbury's by Sainsbury's, Aldi Specially Selected and the supermarket's own bread, milk, yoghurt and ready meals.
Why own-label scans differently
A global scanner database is filled in largely by contributors, and contributions follow the products that sell in the most countries. A Coca-Cola barcode is entered many times over. A Morrisons own-label cottage pie is entered by whoever happened to buy one. That is not a criticism of any app, it is what a crowd-filled database looks like from Britain.
The gapWhat we did about it
We built the food database around UK supermarket ranges first, own-label included, rather than adding Britain to a global set afterwards. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Co-op and Waitrose. It still has gaps, and when a pack is missing you can add it and it goes in.
UK firstHow to check either app
Do not take our word for it or anyone else's. Pick five own-label items already in your cupboard, the more ordinary the better, and scan them in whichever apps you are weighing up. Five packets tells you more about coverage where you actually shop than any review can, this one included.
Test it yourselfWhich app suits which job
These are not the same product and the useful answer is not always ours. Where Yuka fits your job better, that is written below in plain terms. If Ivy is the third app on your list, Is the Ivy food app free? covers its trial and prices the same way.
You want a verdict at the shelf
You are deciding between two packets with a trolley in one hand and you want one number now. You are on Android, where we are not available at all. You scan cosmetics as well as food, which we do not cover. You do not want to keep a diary and would not open one twice.
You want the week, not the scan
You shop UK own-label and want it to scan properly. You want to see which additives are on the pack and what each one does. You want vitamins and minerals adding up against UK NRVs, and reactions, workouts and fasting kept next to the food rather than in three other apps. You are on an iPhone.
Common questions
Pricing, what each app covers, and what we won't claim to do. We refer to Yuka's own listing for current pricing rather than guessing.
Is the Yuka app free?
Yes, the scanning tier is free. Scanning a barcode, seeing the 0 to 100 grade and reading the ingredient breakdown cost nothing and are not time-limited. Yuka Premium is an annual subscription that adds a search bar, offline mode and unlimited scan history. NutraSafe is also free to download, with a free tier of up to 25 food logs a day, and Pro at £3.99 a month or £34.99 a year.
How much does the Yuka app cost in the UK?
Yuka Premium is £10 a year. The UK App Store also lists £15 and £20 options, and those buy nothing extra: Yuka's help centre says "The features offered are exactly the same for all 3 price points" and explains the sliding scale exists so people who want to support the app can pay more. So the price is £10 and the rest is a donation. NutraSafe Pro is £3.99 a month or £34.99 a year on iOS. Checked 4 September 2026.
What are the pros and cons of the Yuka app?
In its favour: it is fast at the shelf, the free tier is genuinely usable, it covers cosmetics as well as food, and it is on both iOS and Android. Against it: there is no daily diary, so nothing adds up across a day or a week, and the single grade compresses nutrition, additives and organic status into one number, which means two products can share a score for unrelated reasons. Whether that trade is worth it depends on whether you want a decision at the shelf or a record over time.
Is Yuka accurate?
Yuka is transparent about its method, which is the part worth understanding. Its food score is 60% nutritional quality, 30% additives and 10% an organic bonus, and it caps a product at 49 out of 100 if it contains an additive Yuka classes as high risk. Because nutrition carries the largest share and follows the Nutri-Score method, foods that are energy-dense by nature, such as cheese, nuts and olive oil, can score low on a short and unremarkable ingredient list. That is the method working as designed rather than a fault, but it is why a score sometimes reads oddly.
Does the Yuka app work in the UK?
It works, with gaps. Yuka is on the UK App Store and reads many UK barcodes, and branded multinationals such as Coca-Cola, Cadbury and Walkers normally scan. Supermarket own-label lines are less consistent, which matters in Britain because own-label is a large share of a typical shop. Our food database is built around UK supermarket products specifically, own-label included.
Is there a better app than Yuka?
It depends on the job. For a quick verdict on a single packet, including cosmetics, and on Android, Yuka does that job well and we do not compete for it. For keeping a UK food diary where additives, calories, vitamins and minerals against UK NRVs, reactions, workouts and fasting sit in one place, that is what we built. We test seven scanners against UK packs, Yuka included, in our best food scanner apps roundup.
Does Yuka track vitamins and minerals?
No. Yuka shows the nutrition printed on the product you are scanning and grades that product. It does not total your intake across the day. We track 13 vitamins and 12 minerals against UK NRVs and the bars fill in as you log.
Is NutraSafe on Android?
Not yet. We are iPhone only at the moment, so if you are on Android, Yuka is available to you and we are not. That is a straight limitation rather than a design choice.
Is NutraSafe free?
Free to download. The free tier covers up to 25 food logs a day, barcode scanning with the food's score and a count of the additives on the pack, reaction logging while you build a baseline, and the E-number library on this website. Pro is £3.99 a month or £34.99 a year, and it names each additive and what it does, lifts the caps and adds the AI Coach, AI meal scan, workouts, fasting and suspected-trigger analysis.
Why does Yuka give a single 0 to 100 score and NutraSafe does not?
Different design choices. Yuka collapses nutrition, additives and organic status into one product number. We do not put a single product score on user-facing food cards, because one number cannot tell you which of its inputs moved it. We show composition strips, plain-English additive lines and watchlist warnings, so you can read what is in the food and decide for yourself.