Olive vs Yuka: What Each Food Scanner App Says It Does

Olive and Yuka both scan food and personal care labels, but their App Store listings describe different things. Olive's listing lists a wide range of concerns, from seed oils and artificial dyes to PFAS in bottled water, and also promotes a paid health program. Yuka's listing describes three criteria for food, an ingredient-by-ingredient analysis for cosmetics and an ad-free model funded by users. This comparison sets each app's own claims side by side, from the Olive App Store listing and the Yuka App Store listing, without declaring a winner or judging which app's scores are more accurate.

Key takeaways

• Yuka's listing names three food criteria: nutritional quality, additives and the organic aspect. Olive's listing names a wider set of concerns and does not publish a scoring formula in the listing text.
• Yuka's listing cites 4 million food products and 2 million cosmetic products. Olive's listing cites 1.3 million+ scored food products, 540+ bottled waters and lab results for 90 products.
• Yuka's Premium Member in-app purchases are listed at $10.00, $15.00 and $20.00. Olive's annual Premium runs from $29.99 to $69.99, monthly from $7.99 to $14.99, with a free trial for new members.
• Yuka states there is no in-app advertising. Olive states 'No brand can buy a better score,' but its advertising and sponsorship practices were not disclosed.
• Olive's App Store privacy section lists Usage Data under 'Data Used to Track You.' Yuka's section has no such category.

How do Olive and Yuka differ on scanning and scoring inputs?

Yuka's listing says each food product is evaluated according to three objective criteria: nutritional quality, presence of additives and the organic aspect of the product. Olive's listing describes a broader set of concerns but does not publish a scoring formula in the listing text.

Yuka's listing says it scans the barcodes of food and personal care products. Cosmetics are analyzed ingredient by ingredient, with each ingredient assigned a risk level. When a product rates poorly, Yuka recommends similar alternatives.

Olive's App Store listing names more specific inputs. Its food scanner covers seed oils, artificial dyes, additives, preservatives, hidden sugars, gluten and allergens. Its skincare and cosmetic scanner covers fragrance, parabens, phthalates and endocrine disruptors. The listing also promises cleaner swaps for anything that scores low.

The listings do not show how either app weights its inputs. Olive's scoring formula is not published in the listing, and Yuka's exact weighting percentages are not published on the pages cited here, so the two scores cannot be compared on method. For how Yuka's 0-100 score compares with another app's letter grade, see Yuka vs Fooducate: 0-100 Score vs A-D Grade.

What do the listings say about product counts and databases?

Yuka's listing cites a database of 4 million food products and 2 million cosmetic products. Olive's listing cites 1.3 million+ food products scored, 540+ bottled waters scored for PFAS, microplastics and fluoride, and lab results for 90 products.

Whether Olive's 1.3 million+ products and Yuka's 4 million food products are counted the same way is not disclosed. A product count can include variants, regional versions or discontinued items, and neither listing explains its method.

Olive's listing also says it tracks 1,174 FDA recalls. The FDA's recalls page states that its listings draw on press releases and public notices, and that not all recalls have press releases or are posted there. A tracker count therefore describes what the app collects, not a complete record of every recall.

Yuka's listing states 85 million users. That figure describes the app's reach, not the accuracy of its database.

How much do Olive and Yuka cost, according to their listings?

Yuka's App Store listing shows Premium Member in-app purchases at $10.00, $15.00 and $20.00. Yuka's premium page describes open pricing and a commitment-free price of $15 per year.

The premium page lists paid features: offline mode, search without scanning, food preference alerts (such as palm oil, gluten and vegetarian diet) and unlimited history. Which Yuka price tier applies to a given user is not disclosed.

Olive's App Store listing describes the app as a free download with in-app purchases. It lists 'Olive Premium (Annual)' at prices from $29.99 to $69.99 and 'Olive Premium (Monthly)' at $7.99 and $14.99. The description says 'Subscription required' and states that new members can start with a free trial.

The exact Olive price a given shopper will see is not disclosed, because the listing shows several price points. The listing also describes the Olive Protocol as 'a separate program with its own price,' and that price is not shown in the text quoted here.

What does each app say about ads and brand influence on scores?

Yuka's listing says there is no in-app advertising, and its independence page says revenues come from users, never from brands. Olive's listing says 'No brand can buy a better score,' but its advertising, sponsorship and brand-payment practices were not disclosed.

Yuka's independence page gives a 2025 revenue breakdown that lists Premium Subscriptions at $11,884,771 and Books & Calendars at $57,694. The same page says Yuka does not sell any user data. These are the company's own statements, and no independent audit is cited here.

Olive's statement about scores is narrower than Yuka's statement about revenue. It covers scores only and does not say whether brands pay for any other placement, such as restaurant listings or product swaps. Those details are not disclosed in the materials available for this article.

What do the App Store privacy labels say about data tracking?

Olive's App Store privacy section lists Usage Data under 'Data Used to Track You.' It also lists contact info, purchases and user content as data linked to you. Yuka's section has no 'Data Used to Track You' category, and the data linked to you is limited to usage data and diagnostics categories.

App Store privacy labels are supplied by the developer, and Apple says it has not verified them. The same caveat applies to both Olive's label and Yuka's label. A label describes what the developer reports, so it is a starting point for reading, not proof of practice.

When reading a privacy label, shoppers can check these sections:

• Data Used to Track You: data used to link your information with other companies' data for advertising or data brokers.
• Data Linked to You: data tied to your account or identity.
• Data Not Linked to You: data collected without a link to your identity.

Yuka's website says it does not sell any user data. Olive's website and listing do not describe its data-sharing practices beyond what the label shows, so those details are not disclosed here.

For how Yuka's scores and data compare with a free open database, see Yuka vs Open Food Facts: Scores, Data and Price Compared.

Which allergen and dietary scans does each app advertise?

Olive's website and its food ingredient checker page advertise allergy scanning, gluten-free scanning that 'Flags wheat, barley, rye and their derivatives on any label,' and dairy and lactose scanning that 'Detects casein, whey, lactose and other dairy-derived ingredients.' Yuka's premium page lists food preference alerts for items such as palm oil, gluten and vegetarian diets, but the pages cited here do not describe a dedicated allergen scan.

In the United States, FDA recognizes nine major food allergens. Sesame was added as the ninth by the FASTER Act, effective January 1, 2023. Neither listing states whether its scans cover all nine, so that coverage is not disclosed for either app.

For people managing allergies, celiac disease or other dietary restrictions, the package's allergen statement and ingredient list remain the primary reference. An app can flag terms it recognizes, but it may miss ingredients that are named differently or not listed on the package. Questions about a specific medical condition are best directed to a clinician.

Are the health and wellness add-ons on Olive's listing disclosed in detail?

Olive's listing describes an AI companion that answers questions and runs a daily check-in, plus a photo food log that records calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, sugar and sodium. It also describes the Olive Protocol, which pairs the app with physician-prescribed peptides, including GLP-1 programs.

The listing does not give details on eligibility, clinical evidence or pricing for the Olive Protocol in the text quoted here. Those details are not disclosed, so shoppers should not assume the program's outcomes from the app listing alone. The Olive listing carries a 16+ age rating, while Yuka's carries a 4+ rating.

For nutrition values on any packaged food, the Nutrition Facts panel on the package is the reference point. The listings compared here do not provide nutrition numbers for individual products, so this article does not supply them.

How does the at-a-glance comparison look across all six factors?

Across the six factors, the listings differ most on pricing model, the range of concerns each names and the categories in each privacy label. The table summarizes what each listing or website states and marks what was not disclosed.

Factor	Olive (listing or website)	Yuka (listing or website)
Scanning and scoring inputs	Food: seed oils, dyes, additives, preservatives, hidden sugars, gluten, allergens. Cosmetics: fragrance, parabens, phthalates, endocrine disruptors. Scoring formula not published in listing.	Food: nutritional quality, additives, organic aspect. Cosmetics: ingredient-by-ingredient risk levels. Exact weights not published on cited pages.
Product counts	1.3 million+ food products scored; 540+ bottled waters; lab results for 90 products; 1,174 FDA recalls tracked	4 million food products; 2 million cosmetic products; 85 million users stated
Pricing	Free download with in-app purchases; Annual $29.99 to $69.99; Monthly $7.99 and $14.99; free trial for new members	Premium Member in-app purchases $10.00, $15.00, $20.00; premium page states $15 per year, open pricing
Ads and brand influence	'No brand can buy a better score'; ad and sponsorship practices not disclosed	No in-app advertising; revenues from users, not brands; does not sell user data
Privacy label	Data Used to Track You: Usage Data; linked data includes contact info, purchases, user content	No Data Used to Track You section; linked data limited to usage data and diagnostics
Allergen scans	Gluten: wheat, barley, rye and derivatives; dairy: casein, whey, lactose; allergy scanning listed	Food preference alerts such as gluten and palm oil; no dedicated allergen scan on cited pages

Each cell reflects a claim from the listing or website. None of the cells is an independent test result.

Which Olive and Yuka listings does this article cover?

This article covers the App Store listing titled 'Olive: AI Health & Weight Loss,' sold by Giga Studios, Inc, and the listing titled 'Yuka - Food & Cosmetic Scanner,' sold by Yuca. Before downloading or subscribing, shoppers can match the seller name, the title, the listed in-app purchases and the privacy label to the listing they mean.

What is not disclosed, and how should shoppers check the claims?

Neither listing discloses whether its scores are more accurate than the other's, so this comparison makes no accuracy claim. Several pricing, advertising and data details are also missing from the listing text.

The following items are not disclosed in the materials available for this article:

• The accuracy of either app's scores.
• The exact Olive price a given user will see.
• Which Yuka Premium price tier applies to a given user.
• Olive's scoring formula weights and Yuka's exact weighting percentages.
• Whether Olive's 1.3 million+ products and Yuka's 4 million food products are counted the same way.
• Olive's advertising and sponsorship practices.
• Android-specific details for either app.

To check the claims, shoppers can read the in-app purchase and privacy sections of each App Store page, review each developer's website and privacy policy, and consult the FDA recalls page for primary recall notices. App Store ratings are a snapshot that changes over time. At research time, Olive showed 4.8 from about 40,200 ratings and Yuka showed 4.8 from about 101,700 ratings. Ratings reflect user opinion, not verified score accuracy.

These listings describe features and policies, not independent test results. The evidence available here cannot establish how either app performs for an individual shopper, how well either database covers a particular product or how either app handles people with specific medical conditions.

Related reading: To see how Olive's additive scoring sits next to an app built around diet and allergy profiles, read Fig vs Olive: Diet Filters, Additive Scores, Pricing, which lays out each app's listed features, data sources and subscription model.