How Curaline scores
Public methodology for the Clean Score (0-100). Written to be transparent, verifiable, and better than any single-number scanner.
The Clean Score (0-100)
Every food, beauty, and household product gets one Clean Score from 0 to 100. Higher is cleaner.
Clean
Few or no concerns; a confident everyday pick.
Fair
Some flags worth knowing; fine in moderation.
Avoid
Notable concerns; a swap is worth it.
Three plain verdicts instead of five numeric tiers, because people act on a verdict, not a decimal.
One score, honestly computed
Two promises hold everywhere in Curaline:
- Every concern you see cost the product points. We never decorate a result with scary cards that didn't affect the score, and we never deduct points for something we don't show you.
- The score never bends to your profile. Your goal changes the explanation, never the number. A product scores the same for everyone, so scores are comparable, shareable, and honest.
What we evaluate
The score combines four evidence streams, weighted by real-world exposure:
1. Flagged ingredients
High concern: endocrine disruptors, possible carcinogens, banned or restricted substances
Medium: additives and triggers with research flags
Low: minor sensitizers and processing aids
2. Nutrition and processing (food)
Ultra-processing, added and hidden sugars, and refined seed oils move the score even when no single ingredient is "banned."
3. Plastics and disruptors (the headline)
Packaging materials (PET, HDPE, PVC, PP, polystyrene, polycarbonate) are identified and surfaced alongside ingredient-level disruptors. Packaging is shown as its own exposure layer so you can see it, clearly labelled as context, separate from the ingredient deductions.
4. Exposure context
Leave-on products (lotions, makeup) carry more weight than rinse-off (cleansers); ingested and mucosal products more than incidental contact.
Verified-source cross-check
Detecting an ingredient isn't the same as proving it's a concern. Every flagged ingredient is cross-checked against independent authorities - EU CosIng, IARC, ECHA, US NTP, WHO, EFSA, FDA - and the result shows you which authorities list it and with what confidence.
Ingredient-level authority hazards deduct from the score; third-party quality grades (like EWG ratings) are shown for context and never change the number.
Where the products come from
Scan a barcode, share a link from TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, a blog, or any shop, or snap the label. Product data draws on Open Food Facts, Open Beauty Facts, and Open Products Facts - open, community-audited databases covering millions of products - plus label analysis when a product isn't indexed yet.
Beyond a hazard-only score
| Feature | Hazard-only scanners | Curaline |
|---|---|---|
| Per-flag source citation | rarely | always (tap any flag) |
| Cross-source confidence | no | yes (how many authorities agree) |
| Personalised by your goal | no | yes (explanation, never the number) |
| Cumulative toxin load over time | no | yes |
| Routine audits (scan a whole shelf) | no | yes |
| Goal-ranked clean swaps | no | yes |
| Packaging plastics surfaced | sometimes | yes (resin-level: PET, HDPE, etc.) |
| Food + beauty + household | usually one | all three |
Limitations and honesty
Curaline is not medical advice and never diagnoses. Users report using scores to guide everyday choices; discuss health decisions with a qualified clinician.
Open databases are community-maintained; a product can be missing, mislabelled, or out of date. When data is thin we say so instead of guessing.
Dose and individual response vary. A flag means "authoritative sources list a concern", not "this product will harm you."
The methodology is reviewed against the literature on an ongoing basis and the engine is versioned; when scoring logic changes, cached scores are recomputed rather than served stale.
Transparency commitments
- Every flag names its ingredient and its source.
- Every authority we cite is listed on the result, per ingredient.
- This methodology page stays public and dated.
- Plastics are always surfaced, never buried.
- When we don't know, the app says "we don't know."
Last reviewed: 2026-07. Curaline is not affiliated with the cited authorities.