If you use a sunblock that uses homosalate as its active UV filter, this is a good time to find an alternative. We have included it as unsafe in our list of ingredients for the Supermarket App Pro.  Here are other brands that use homosalate as the active UV filter:

• Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen
• Coppertone Sport Sunscreen
• Banana Boat Ultra Sport Sunscreen
• Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Sunscreen
• Aveeno Protect + Hydrate Sunscreen
• La Roche-Posay Anthelios Sunscreen
• Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen
• Sun Bum Original Sunscreen
• EltaMD UV Clear Facial Sunscreen
• CeraVe Sunscreen.

(product list is provided by ChatGPT, and some products have not been humanly verified as of writing)

Its important to note that the US FDA has allowed this compound in concentrations of less than 15% into products but the EU has a different assessment.

Here is the EU’s assessment of ‘homosalate’ https://lnkd.in/dunHhgNq.  Its a 59 page pdf made by the Scientific Committee of Consumer Safety of the European Commission.

In conclusion: (page 52)

On the basis of safety assessment of homosalate, and considering the concerns related to potential endocrine disrupting properties, the SCCS has concluded that homosalate is not safe when used as a UV-filter in cosmetic products at concentrations of up to 10%

….and that the allowable safety concentration is at 0.05%

The European Commission has a 59 page pdf document including opinions based on studies. The FDA has no mention of studies and approves the ingredient in concentrations up to 15%. We made the decision to include it in our list of unsafe ingredients based on the the following information:

The Enviromental Working Group as well as a few other Pubmed studies verify that the ingredient is unsafe. Links below:

• Classified as expected to be toxic by the EWG
• Homosalate may have effects on breast cancer cells
• Study suggests pregnant women should be cautious when using homosalate
• Study suggests homosalate can be considered a cytotoxic and genotoxic substance

Watch the Supermarket App Pro video here, download our app from the Apple Store here.

AVAILABLE FROM:

Fevi Yu

Founder

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.

I want to preface this by mentioning that this is not a paid Ad for Whole Foods 365.

One of my absolute favorite snacks is Cheese curls aka cheese puffs — whenever Im PMS-ing, this is the one snack that I reach for.  Recently though, everytime I tried my goto Cheese curls (the UTZ brand), my tummy would be bloated and I was generally uncomfortable so this time around, I went to Whole Foods and tried their Cheese puffs.  You can see for yourself that it passed the safe test using our app,  here is the  video of that: Supermarket App Pro Video on Cheese Puffs from Whole Foods

Here are the ingredients of Whole Foods Cheese Puffs:

Degerminated yellow cornmeal, expeller pressed oils (sunflower seed, safflower seed and/or canola), cheddar cheese seasoning (corn maltodextrin, whey powder, salt, cheddar cheese powder [cultured pasteurized milk, salt, microbial enzymes] yeast extract, citric acid, cane sugar, onion powder, natural flavor, garlic powder, dextrose, buttermilk powder, paprika extract (color), annatto extract (color), white vinegar powder, experller pressed canola oil, non-gmo.  

None of these ingredients are on our unsafe database but that doesn’t mean that is is a healthy snack.

Because Ive been researching ingredients for the longest time, I can already spot the problematic ingredients on this list, such as:

• Maltodextrin — a common food additive, approved by the FDA. Its very similar to corn syrup, minus the sugar content, but along the lines of highly processed. It has a high glycemic index value, which can spike your blood sugar.  Maltodextrin is used as a filler to increase volume of processed food as well as a preservative.  Its also very inexpensive (made from corn) so its used in other products such as lotion and hair care.  Here are the dangers of maltodextrine:
  • Spikes blood sugar (not good for diabetes)
  • Changes bacteria composition in the gut
  • Increase growth of E.coli  (associated with autoimmune and crohn’s disease)
  • Impair intestinal mucus release (risk of colitis)
  • Digestive disorders
• Degerminated yellow cornmeal — simply means that the corn has been processed and that it has been removed of nutritious, oily germ and bran, which makes it shelf stable.  A healthier alternative to this ingredient would be to buy “whole grain”
• Expeller pressed oils (Sunflower seed, safflower seed and/or Canola) —
  • Sunflower oil generates the most aldehydes that any other oil when frying.  Aldehydes increases risks of cancer. It also causes inflammation, may cause allergic reactions, increase blood sugar levels, increase weight gain and potential risks of toxicity.
  • Safflower seed oil is high in fat and calories and may interfere with blood clotting, do not use if you are taking medication for blood clotting.
  • Canola oil, is the safest of the three expeller pressed oils but its also capable of promoting inflammation as well as arterial calcification.

…and to think this product is a product that doesn’t have known ‘unsafe’ ingredients, can you imagine what the unsafe ingredients can do to your body, your health and overall quality of life?  Anyway, I hope this was helpful, if you want us to analyze a product and ingredient, please don’t hesitate to use our Contact form.

AVAILABLE FROM:

Fevi Yu

Founder

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.