Wisecode, a consumer-focused mobile app that launched in late 2024, is providing food and beverage manufacturers a new method for establishing their clean-label bona fides.
In early March, the company released its Non-UPF Shield verification program for brands that meet the company’s non-ultra-processed threshold.
“We believe food transparency requires clear standards that work in the real world,” said Peter Castleman, founder and CEO of Wisecode. “Consumers need clarity. Brands need consistency. Our standard was built to support both.”
What is Wisecode
Reno, Nev.-based Wisecode has amassed a database of more than 840,000 products and 15,000 attributes, enabling consumers to scan product barcodes and see which ingredients the products contain.
Wisecode recently redesigned its app to make it clear whether the product is ultra-processed under its own UPF definition. It also explains in simple terms which ingredients contribute to that UPF classification.
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“Awareness of ultra-processed food is rising, but shoppers still struggle to identify it consistently,” said Dr. Richard Black, chief scientific officer at Wisecode. “Our goal is to make processing visible and understandable in seconds.”
The app aims to offer greater clarity on what is in the product and how it was manufactured.
Wisecode’s Non-UPF Shield
The new verification shield is a voluntary program that costs $200 a year per SKU for brands that want to include the mark on their products.
“Additionally, it gives access to a platform that aims to elevate non-UPF foods in the mobile consumer app and with retailers,” the company said.
Most verifications can be completed instantly due to the company’s vast database of products, although some products require additional review, the company said.
WISEcode is offering a limited-time discount to brands, providing them one SKU for free for the first year and three additional SKUs at a 50% discount ($100 per SKU) for the first year.
“We have a lot of young, up-and-coming groups and packaged food brands that don’t have a lot of budget, but they want to differentiate themselves, and we want to reward them for what they’re doing,” said Mark Higginson, customer lifecycle representative at Wisecode.
Food and beverage brands participating in the program receive a press kit and assets for branding, Higginson said.
“On the other side, we will eventually be making our data available through different avenues, so that anybody who wants to leverage the data could potentially use that to then inform their broader audiences,” he said.
How does Wisecode define UPF?
Without a formal definition for UPF beyond the typical Nova Classification System developed by Carlos Monteiro in Brazil in 2009, how does Wisecode determine whether a food is ultra-processed?
Wisecode uses four main criteria: counting the number of processed ingredients, evaluating each processed ingredient based on health risks, determining how much of the food’s energy comes from added sugars and highlighting products that contain “high-risk additives.”
The analysis determines whether the product is considered minimally processed, moderate, ultra or super-ultra, according to the company.
“We then assign health risks and potential health outcomes based on those ingredients,” Higginson said, adding that Wisecode’s methodology is published on the company’s website.
What’s next for Wisecode?
Wisecode plans to eventually roll out additional certifications for brands and enable consumers to personalize their own profiles based on their own dietary restrictions.
Eventually, consumers will be able to dig down to understand “the sub-categories” of ingredients, he said.
“Eventually we will have innumerable codes and codes that people can create for themselves … for a specific, unique set of ingredients that you may want to avoid or consume more of,” Higginson said. “We’ll have some common ingredient lists or some common codes, but we do want people to tailor the codes to their individual needs, because all of us are different and that is the goal.”
