Yuka will offer its users the opportunity to directly contact industrial groups to request the withdrawal of additives considered controversial from their recipes. “The public authorities unfortunately take too long to ban substances that are controversial, we have to wait decades”explains Julie Chapon, the co-founder of Yuka. The application, created eight years ago, has a total of 60 million users worldwide, including 22 million in France.
55 additives are listed by the application: sweeteners bad for the microbiota, emulsifiers at risk for the cardiovascular system, colorings suspected of promoting hyperactivity in children. These substances appear in red when a product containing them is scanned. It will then be possible, with a simple click, to send an email or a message on X directly to the manufacturer to ask them to eliminate these additives. “There are also conflicts of interest. Faced with all this, the consumer has the power to act directly”explains Julie Chapon, the co-founder of Yuka.
Additives that are not essential
Because, under pressure from consumers, practices are evolving. Manufacturers cannot ignore the French appetite for healthier products, believes Olivier Andrault, specialist in food issues at UFC-Que Choisir: “We must not listen to the industry’s speech which tells us that there will always be a need for certain potentially dangerous additives. This is not true. Our studies show that there is always a better choice, either from a nutritional point of view, or the presence of additives.”
Campaigns carried out in recent years have also made it possible to reduce the use of nitrites in ham and have lowered the sugar level in certain children’s cereals. For the moment, ANIA, the national association of agri-food manufacturers, has not wished to react.
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