TRANSPARENCY
No black boxes. No paid placements. Here is how every score, badge, and warning on this site gets generated — start to finish.
GORILLA FUEL INDEPENDENCE STATEMENT
Gorilla Fuel is an independent analytical platform. No brand, manufacturer, or retailer pays for placement, influences scoring, or has any input into our rankings or results. Our scoring methodology is applied identically to every product regardless of brand size, marketing budget, or popularity. A product from a small Canadian craft brewery is scored using the exact same framework as a multinational corporation. The data determines the score. Nothing else.
We do not accept sponsorships that influence product scores. We do not accept payment for featured placement. We do not adjust scores based on advertiser relationships, because we have none. Our affiliate links exist to fund platform development and are applied uniformly to top ranked products — they do not influence how products are scored or ranked. A product earns its ranking and then receives an affiliate link. Not the other way around.
Every product gets a single Final Score out of 100, which is a weighted blend of three dimensions. The two sub-scores start at a perfect 100 and lose points only when the data gives us a real reason to dock them — nothing is subjective or hand-tuned per brand — and a small organic bonus is added on top when it's genuinely earned.
Nutrition Score · 60%
Calculated from sugar, saturated fat, salt, calorie density, fiber, protein, and NOVA processing group per 100g. Each nutrient is measured against graduated thresholds drawn from WHO and major cardiology-body guidelines — penalties scale up as a nutrient moves from “elevated” to “high” to “very high,” while meaningful fiber and protein content earns credit back. Higher NOVA processing groups carry additional penalties.
Every flagged nutrient also shows the per-serving figure alongside the per-100g one (e.g. “High sugar: 26g per 100g (4g per 15g serving)”) whenever serving-size data is available, so the number maps to what you'll actually eat.
Why 60%: what you eat in bulk is the primary purpose of food — macros and processing dominate health outcomes.
Additive Score · 30%
Every detected additive is matched against our intel database — over 50 entries covering common names, aliases, and E-codes. Each match deducts a penalty sized to its real-world risk level (high / medium / low), and the running total is the Additive Score.
Why 30%: a product can have good macros and a terrible additive list — exposure to flagged compounds deserves real weight of its own.
Organic Bonus · 10%
Up to +10 pointsare added on top whenever Open Food Facts' labels or categories carry a verified organic certification (e.g. “organic,” “bio,” “biologique”). No certification, no bonus — we don't guess from marketing copy.
Why 10%: organic certification matters — but it is not the whole picture. Organic sugar is still sugar.
The three combine as 60% nutrition + 30% additives + the organic bonus. The final number maps to a letter grade: Excellent (75+) · Good (50–74) · Poor (25–49) · Bad (below 25).
A risk rating tells you how bad something might be if the concern is real. An Evidence Tier tells you how settled the science actually is— two completely different questions we refuse to collapse into one number. You'll see a tier badge on every additive card and every ranked product.
Strong Consensus
Multiple large peer-reviewed studies agree and major health bodies are aligned.
How we apply it: Multiple peer-reviewed meta-analyses agree. We apply this flag to ingredients with overwhelming scientific agreement on safety or harm.
Emerging Evidence
Recent studies suggest a concern, but research is still early or limited.
How we apply it: Studies exist but research is ongoing. We note these ingredients and flag them without applying maximum penalties.
Contested
Genuine scientific debate — studies conflict, or major bodies have recently updated their position.
How we apply it: Genuine scientific disagreement exists. We present both sides and apply moderate consideration.
Precautionary
Limited direct research but a plausible mechanism of concern, often a newer synthetic ingredient.
How we apply it: Limited human data, but mechanistic concerns exist. We apply conservative flagging while noting the uncertainty.
Example — Strong Consensus: Creatine monohydrate. Decades of large clinical trials and alignment across every major sports-nutrition body — there's effectively no live debate left to report.
Example — Precautionary: A novel synthetic ingredient with a plausible mechanism of concern but only a handful of small or animal studies — not yet enough data for anyone to issue a real verdict.
Ranked supplements get a letter grade derived from purity score, label transparency, and independent testing — the same no-nonsense lens applied to every entry in the hub.
Elite
Exceptional purity, full label transparency, independently verified. The benchmark.
Excellent
Near-flawless formulation and testing. Tiny nitpicks at most.
Very Good
Strong, trustworthy product with minor caveats worth knowing.
Good+
Above average — solid product with one or two gaps in certification or transparency.
Good
Solid choice, but carries tradeoffs — dosing, sweeteners, or value.
Average
Gets the job done. Expect some red flags: blends, fillers, or weak claims.
Below Average
Proprietary blends, underdosed actives, or additive-heavy. Buyer beware.
NOVA is the internationally recognised system (developed at the University of São Paulo and used by the WHO and FAO) that classifies foods by how processed they are — not by their nutrients. We use it as one input to the Nutrition Score: more processing means more penalty.
1
Unprocessed / Minimally Processed
Fresh fruit, whole grains, plain meat, milk, eggs, plain nuts and seeds — Ontario apples, steel-cut oats, a chicken breast.
2
Processed Culinary Ingredients
Substances used in cooking — oils, butter, salt, sugar, maple syrup. You season with these; you don't eat them alone.
3
Processed Foods
Group 1 + Group 2 combined — canned vegetables, smoked fish, cheese, fresh bakery bread, salted nuts.
4
Ultra-Processed Foods
Industrial formulations — chips, cookies, soft drinks, instant noodles. Colourants, emulsifiers, flavourings, HFCS. Most heavily penalised.
Beer, seltzer, cider and RTD products are evaluated on three pillars: cleanliness (number and risk level of known additives — clarity agents, artificial sweeteners, sulphites, colourants), calorie density per serving, and carbohydrate and sugar content per serving, with higher-ABV products weighed down accordingly. The result is the 1–5 Gorilla Pour rating shown on every card. Spirits are not currently in the main scoring system.
Wines use a published weighted score — sugar 40% · calorie density 30% · additives 30% — measured per standard 148mL pour (60mL for icewine, which is served as a dessert wine). Dry wines naturally score highest. Ontario VQA wines are identified with a dedicated badge but are scored with the identical framework as every other wine.
Every ranked supplement is evaluated on four pillars: purity (label accuracy, contaminant risk, and filler content), independent third-party testing, certifications and transparency (full-disclosure labels beat proprietary blends, every time), and value (price per effective serving, not price per tub). Those pillars combine into the S-through-D letter grade shown above.
The certification hierarchy: NSF Certified for Sport ranks highest, then Informed Sport, then Informed Choice, then no certification. Manufacturer self-testing doesn't count as third-party verification at any level.
Where claims are involved, each product also carries an Evidence Tier badge so you can see how settled the science is on its category — a perfectly pure product in a contested category will say so.
Every scan checks 15 data sources in priority order. Every score, badge, and citation traces back to one of these public, independently checkable sources — never to brand-supplied marketing copy.
Checked in this priority order on every scan.
Step 1 · GORILLA CURATED
Gorilla Curated Database
Our own hand-verified product database. Every entry is manually reviewed with confirmed nutrition and serving-size data. Checked first on every scan.
Step 2 · COMMUNITY
Community Submissions
User-submitted products that have passed admin review. Enables Canadian and regional products not yet covered by major databases.
Step 3 · OPEN FOOD FACTS
Open Food Facts
The world's largest open food database — 3M+ products with ingredients, nutrition, additives, and NOVA processing group. Backbone of every food, drink, and supplement scan.
Step 4 · USDA
USDA FoodData Central
The US Department of Agriculture's branded-food nutrition database.
Step 5 · FATSECRET
FatSecret Platform
A large global food and nutrition database covering millions of branded foods.
Step 6 · BARCODE DB
Barcode Lookup
A consumer product database with nutrition data where available.
Step 7 · NIH VERIFIED
NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database
The US National Institutes of Health's official registry of dietary supplement labels. Returns serving size, supplement facts, and certifications (NSF, Informed Sport) — displayed with a blue NIH VERIFIED government badge.
Step 8 · UPC DATABASE
UPCitemdb
A UPC product database covering millions of consumer products. Returns name, brand, and category for identification when nutrition data is unavailable.
Step 9 · NUTRITIONIX
Nutritionix Branded Food Database
A large North American branded-food database with strong coverage of US grocery products.
Step 10 · OPEN BEAUTY FACTS
Open Beauty Facts
Open Food Facts' sister database for cosmetics and personal care — powers Beauty Mode with a purple BEAUTY PRODUCT banner when a barcode matches a non-food item.
Step 11 · WINEVYBE
WineVybe Beer Database
A beer and beverage barcode database, used for alcohol products when food databases return no result.
Step 12 · WINE ANALYZER
Wine Analyzer
A wine-specific barcode lookup used for wine products.
Step 13 · COLA VERIFIED
TTB COLA Cloud (US Government Alcohol Registry)
The US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's Certificate of Label Approval database. Every alcohol product sold in the US must be registered here — displayed with a navy COLA VERIFIED government badge.
Step 14 · GO-UPC
Go-UPC Global Product Database
500M+ product records worldwide. Returns name, brand, image, and category when nutrition-focused databases return no result.
Step 15 · OPEN DRUG FACTS
Open Drug Facts
OTC drug and medication database from the same open-data infrastructure as Open Food Facts. Displayed with a blue MEDICATION banner and a healthcare disclaimer.
Used for additive scoring, supplement research, recall detection, and carcinogenicity classification.
Labdoor Testing Database
Independent purity and label-accuracy benchmarks for supplements, referenced for context (Labdoor has no public API for live per-product lookups).
Examine.com Research Database
Curated, citation-backed summaries of what each common supplement ingredient does, its evidence strength, dose range, and safety considerations.
PubMed / National Library of Medicine
Peer-reviewed research — the most recent indexed papers on each detected additive.
Health Canada Natural Health Products Database
Licensing, NPN verification, and ingredient status for supplements.
Open FDA Enforcement Database
Active recalls and enforcement actions checked on every scan.
IARC Monographs Programme
The WHO's cancer research arm — carcinogenicity classifications.
WHO / FAO JECFA Food Additive Evaluations
Joint expert committee evaluations behind global additive standards.
EFSA ANS Panel Opinions
The European Food Safety Authority's additive re-evaluations.
An automated job runs every 24 hours and:
fuel_audit_logtable — date, product, change type, old value, new value, and the source URL — so there's always a queryable record of exactly what changed and why.On every individual scan, we also pull the two most recent peer-reviewed papers on each detected additive from PubMed in real time, check Open FDA for active recalls on that specific product or brand, and — for supplements — verify Health Canada NPN licensing on the spot.
Gorilla Fuel does not accept payment for product placement. No brand can buy a better grade, a higher rank, a friendlier writeup, or a spot in “Healthier Alternatives.” Every score on this site is generated algorithmically from the public data sources listed above — the same inputs are available to anyone who wants to check our work. If we ever change that policy, this page will say so, in this same plain language, on the same day it happens.
All scores constitute editorial opinion based on publicly disclosed methodology. Gorilla Fuel is an independent analytical platform. No brand pays for placement or influences scoring.