EWG's Healthy Living

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1. ★★★★★barcode scanner broken or unreliable

   Bad. I scanned about 50 items at Walmart and it had about 5 to 10% of them

2. ★★★★★UI bugs: can't tap products, freezes, errors

   Bug. It won’t let me click on certain recommended products and says “error occurred”. Please fix this!

3. ★★★★★barcode scanner broken or unreliable

   App doesn’t work. Doesn’t scan

4. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

   Rating seems to be flawed calculations.. I had high hopes for this app on helping me make good choices for my family after seeing it when reading about the “dirty dozen” list. With strawberries at #1 on the list I was curious how organic strawberries were. Driscolls organic strawberries were 1/low hazard. But then I noticed driscolls strawberries were 1.5/low hazard! And then when you click through it notes in the negatives #1 in the dirty dozen list. Why would it be rated low hazard if it’s a high hazard per their own list! I also looked up a few varieties of all purpose spray and noticed the kind I bought was a high hazard but a different fragrance was low hazard. Turns out the other fragrance wasn’t better, it was just that those items weren’t rated, so the rating was assumingly based on the one category that was rated. In neither case can I trust the rating this app provides.

5. ★★★★★barcode scanner broken or unreliable

   TOO BAD IT DOESN’T WORK…. EWG was the first company that gave you a rating of beauty products. Now there’s a lot more tho they all give you different results which is very confusing. Anyway, this EWG app is now the worst of all, it just doesn’t work. Only 1 out 20 things you scan will have a rating but from 2016. Really?? Also their camera doesn’t zoom so if the barcode is small again it won’t work. I wish they charged but made their database work as it should . For now it’s just useless. I switched to yuka and oasis.

6. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

   Driscolls. How are driscolls berries well rated when there are such high known pesticide exposures?

7. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

   Disappointed user. This app used to be great, not sure what happened, I can no longer find rating for products I’m interested in. You make it so difficult to look up anything, and constantly bombard me with requests for donations, which makes me very skeptical of your true motives. I am retired and live on a fixed income and can not afford to donate, but I did like to come on here to be able to make healthier choices. I’m very disappointed in what this site has evolved into.

8. ★★★★★UI bugs: can't tap products, freezes, errors

   Not working. The upgrade to “premium” is a huge disappointment. It does not work. Cannot search for products cannot scan a barcode as promised. It remains in a frozen state. Have tried for several days on my iPad to get it to work - but no luck !! Original app on my iPhone still works just fine.

9. ★★★★★product database too small

   Incomplete. OST products I use aren’t listed very disappointing.

10. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Wondering if this is correct. I looked up a sunscreen that was scored a 7 but each individual gradient was scored a 1. Wondering how many typos there are.

11. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Low rating. To see the ratings on a product you have dig for the ingredients, then see that they allow bad ingredients in products they rate good for you. I feel if a product has an ingredient that’s rated high against you then this product should be eliminated. But you don’t do that you allow it, even though your evaluation says high risk… I will not recommend this app to anyone.

12. ★★★★★product database too small

    Unhelpful. While it is easy to scan items they have very little on here. If you shop at Coscto or Aldi this app is not for you because they have none of their items.

13. ★★★★★barcode scanner broken or unreliable

    Scanner doesn’t work right. I tried to scan a few items in my pantry, and none of them were in the system. I can understand that somewhat, but the scanner seemed to capture random shots and did not allow me to center the barcode, etc. so I don’t know if the items were not in the database or if the scanner just didn’t work properly. I’m guessing it’s a bit of both but so far, it seems too difficult to use this app.

14. ★★★★★UI bugs: can't tap products, freezes, errors

    No Internet connection??. I actually have a great Internet connection, everything else works, but the app won’t connect ever since the latest update. I can’t even send in feedback.

15. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    You can’t trust them - they sold out 💰. When sun beam and tresemme are rated a “2” considering their horrible & harmful ingredients, you know they’ve been paid off to lie. Such a shame.

16. ★★★★★UI bugs: can't tap products, freezes, errors

    App changes. I’m really not a fan of the recent changes to the app. It used to be so easy to search for something specific like anti-aging eye creams and see all the relevant options in one place. Now everything is grouped under broad categories like “face” and “body,” and it just lumps products together. It makes it harder and more time-consuming to find exactly what I’m looking for. I really miss the more detailed and user-friendly search feature.

17. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Update SUCKS. It was an awesome app, but now it’s not…and it seems like it’s become rather biased.

18. ★★★★★product database too small

    Hard to understand. Every time I Use the app I'm frustrated. Don't understand the scoring system and can't find help.

19. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    EWG certification is nonsense. I very naively bought a product for myself and my children because it was EWG verified and has the highest rating of safety. Then saw that it has fragrance listed with no other details to go off of - I would assume this is a bare minimum component for an EWG certification. I don’t know a lot about harmful toxins but I know fragrance is bad. Was hoping this app would help me make better choices faster and easier but clearly they can’t be trusted. So sad!

20. ★★★★★barcode scanner broken or unreliable

    A fail. My first try- would not scan the bar code. So I typed in the face cream product and result was- not listed. Pretty sure this is not an obscure product.

21. ★★★★★product database too small

    Such a limited listing. I find that 90 percent of my submissions are not in the catalogue. Overall I find this app unhelpful.

22. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Unreliable. Don’t know what you are basing your criteria off of but many of your products listed as ewg verified and “low hazard”, have off the charts levels of lead, cadmium, and arsenic. I used to rely on your site for dependable information. Deleting your app. and moving on.

23. ★★★★★UI bugs: can't tap products, freezes, errors

    Does not work. Don’t get this app there is a better one called Yuka look at that app before getting this app

24. ★★★★★product database too small

    Hard to use. Not user friendly.. Hard to find and check the rating on a product

25. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Can’t trust the objectivity of the app because it leans too heavily into a liberal agenda. I am an integrative health practitioner and have referred the EWG app to many of my clients. However, since the Trump Administration has taken office, the app promotes very one-sided political views against the current administration (I don’t care which side of the political arena one falls but this app should provide balanced and unbiased information when serving the public as a whole, especially when educating and promoting health). Articles, podcasts, and other content often present complex issues in a one-sided manner lacking context and opposing viewpoints. As someone who values neutrality - especially when it comes to health and science - this level of political framing makes it hard to trust the objectivity of the information being presented. I will not be referring this app to my clients any longer. My priority is to provide accurate, science-backed guidance rooted in compassion without political agendas. Very disappointed that the EWG has not done the same.

26. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    I’m done with EWG. They have been continuously disappointing ever since this 2024 election. They are getting political instead of focusing on the overall picture of American health. RFK jr is not perfect, but he is a step in the right direction for this country!! We need major change, things could be so so much better and healthier for everyone! Healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education, farming, etc.

27. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Teaming With Jeff Bezos?. We now have an oligarch link to products sold on Amazon? What a complete sellout Ken Cook!! Support small businesses NOT Amazon!!

28. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Sold out. Good EWG ratings can be purchased, EWG has sold out. Research it. No thanks! And I don't need EWG giving me unsolicited advice (in the form of push notifications) recommending big Pharma medications. That's an immediate uninstall in my book. Bye!

29. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Hypocrites. Claim to support healthy living but refuse to even speculate the safety and efficacy of vaccinations. Also, the app has very minimal products on there, mostly just products they have partnerships with.

30. ★★★★★doubts about rating objectivity and conflicts of interest

    Not happy. I just purchased a product that EWG rated as one of their preferred. With their stamp of approval. When I received the product there is fragrance listed(parfum) EWG didn’t list it. Fragrance is a toxin. So I will no longer trust their ratings. I feel that they are bias to companies they are affiliated with. I’ll def go back to think dirty. So disappointed.