Explainer
How ChooseWell finds, rates and shows product information
Being open about how the app works is part of what ChooseWell offers. ChooseWell doesn't create its own data: it connects public and third-party records to the product in front of you. Here's how a scan becomes a product page, where each number comes from, and the rules behind each score.
Step 1: Identifying the product
A lookup starts with a barcode, a photo of the package, a produce sticker code (PLU), a vehicle identification number (VIN), a company picked from a list, or, with Pro, a search by name. ChooseWell matches it to a product record using open databases such as Open Food Facts and USDA FoodData Central, and a commercial barcode database for products not yet in community sources.
Then it works out who makes it: first the brand owner on record, then the brand name, and only as a last resort the company prefix inside the barcode. The app says when it had to use that last method. If nothing identifies a maker, it says "maker not identified" rather than guess.
Step 2: Four scores, each from its own sources
- Political: the maker's spending since 2024 to influence policy: corporate PAC giving and Super PAC giving from FEC filings, federal lobbying from Lobbying Disclosure Act reports, and state-level giving from 46 states and cities. High is $100,000 or more in total, or $1,000 or more to Super PACs on its own; Moderate is $10,000 up to $100,000; Low is under $10,000 or nothing found. It's a how-much measure, not a judgment.
- Safety: open recalls from the FDA, USDA, CPSC and NHTSA, plus listed ingredients checked against published watch-lists such as California's Proposition 65 list, weighted by how much is in the product and how the list classifies it.
- Nutrition: the product's own Nutrition Facts against targets you set in Priorities. Whole produce is rated good, because its sugar is natural.
- Reviews: ratings from other ChooseWell users.
Each score shows Good, Okay or Poor (Low, Moderate or High for Political), with its source one tap away. The overall rating at the top is a plain average of the scores you keep switched on; switch one off in Priorities and it drops out.
Why there are no accounts
ChooseWell has no logins. Reviews and photos you submit are tied to a random identifier made on your phone, not to you. Your scan history stays on your phone. ChooseWell is free to scan, with an optional ChooseWell Pro membership, yearly from $10, for search by name, cart screenshots, My Shopping Impact and the Political pages. Pro is tied to your Apple ID or Google account through the store.
How current the data is
Federal political data refreshes weekly and state data monthly, as each state publishes it. Recalls and product data update as their sources publish. None of it is real time, which is why every score links to the record behind it.
What ChooseWell does, and what it doesn't
ChooseWell shows the record; it doesn't tell you what to buy. It doesn't count personal donations by individual employees, it doesn't endorse any party, candidate or company, and a Low or unflagged result means nothing was found in the sources checked, not a guarantee. The full rules are on the Methodology and Data sources pages.
How ChooseWell shows this
Every product page carries the four scores, the overall rating and a source link for each. If something looks wrong, the corrections address is on the Methodology page, and corrections are checked against the original source.
Check it yourself
Scan any barcode in ChooseWell to see the maker's open recalls, flagged ingredients and political spending, each with its public source. Free to scan, no account.
