We randomly compared our banned ingredient list with the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG.com) list and have confirmed that our banned list is almost the same as EWG’s banned list. Its important to note, however, that we did not check all 1000+ unsafe ingredients.
Database Comparison
| Ingredient | Supermarket App Pro | EWG |
| Polysorbate 80 | Present in the Unsafe database | Yellow (1 – 3)* |
| Mono and diglycerides | Not present | Green (1)* |
| Monosodium glutamate | Present in the Unsafe database | Yellow* |
| Sodium Benzoate | Present but OK for external use | Yellow (1 – 3)* |
| Caramel Color | Present in the Unsafe database | Yellow* |
*EWG scores ingredients from 1 to 10 and color codes them. Green = Safe, Yellow and Red = Unsafe to Dangerous
The Supermarket App Pro’s ingredient list is not exactly the same as EWG’s because we also have ingredients on our banned list that is not on EWG’s of-concern list, for example:
| Ingredient | Supermarket App Pro | EWG |
| Sucralose | Present in the Unsafe database | Green |
| Sodium Phosphate | Present in the Unsafe database | Green |
Its important to note that these ingredients are in Supermarket App Pro’s Unsafe database because they are artificial sweeteners (Sucralose) and artificial preservatives (sodium phosphate)
Here are reference studies to support that Sucralose in fact affects gut microbiome:
Low dose sucralose alter gut microbiome in mice
Published 25 Feb 2022
Here is an excerpt from the research:
” However, researches have confirmed that sucralose can change the composition of gut microbiome, inhibiting intestinal development, and aggravating HFD-induced hepatic steatosis in adulthood (5, 9).
Gut microbiome refers to the complex community of microorganisms living in the digestive tract of human and animals, its number is about 10 times than our body cells (10). The balance between host and gut microbiome is essential to maintain a healthy gut barrier and optimal immune homeostasis, which helps to prevent the occurrence of diseases (11, 12). Gut microbiome contribute to the metabolic health of the human host, when aberrant, it will cause the pathogenesis of various common metabolic disorders including obesity, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic liver disease, cardio-metabolic diseases and malnutrition (13).”
Here are reference studies to support that sodium phosphate can, in fact, be unsafe for us.
Phosphate Additives in Food—a Health Risk
Published January 2012
Here is an excerpt from the research:
“One important step would be to inform physicians and the public thoroughly about the potential risks to cardiovascular and renal function arising from dietary phosphate consumption. Phosphate has long been known to elevate the cardiovascular risk in dialysis patients, but analogous effects have only recently been shown in persons with moderately impaired renal function (of whom the number is growing) and even in persons with normal renal function (6, 7, 23). The changing age structure of the population, with ever more elderly people, further deepens the implications of this problem for health policy, as does the high prevalence of “diseases of civilization,” such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and coronary heart disease, that damage the kidneys and accelerate the age-related decline of renal function. The link between phosphate and progressive renal failure was already suspected and investigated in the early 1980s (24, e10).”
Fevi became an advocate for food is medicine when her dog, Junior, was diagnosed with cancer. In that journey, she discovered how food played such an important role, first in animal health and then eventually, her own health. When she became a Mom, it reinforced the importance of healthy, natural and fresh food. She is a researcher, by profession, and her skills have helped in intimately understanding how the food industry has prioritized profits over health. As the Founder of Source Partners, she hopes to support the next evolution (perhaps, revolution) of the food industry.