How do you grade products?

We scan each ingredient of each product and check it against our list of unfriendly ingredients. If a product is found to have an ingredient on the list then we mark it as being not compatible with the lifestyle we're checking. The tricky part is determining if a product is vegan or vegetarian friendly. There are quite a few ingredients that can be either plant or animal based depending on the manufacturer. You'll notice an orange label on ingredients that can go either way.

How are plant-based milks graded?

Milks derived from plants offer a slightly different challenge to our grading process as the most popular "milks" are from animals. Any time our system checks a milk product it checks for any indication that the ingredients are from soy, oat, flax, almond, etc. There are times when we aren't able to determine the origin of the ingredients. When this happens, we mark the product as "maybe" compatible with each lifestyle and ask you to use your best judgment.

How do you handle trace ingredients?

Trace ingredients are ingredients that may or may not be in a product. Most manufacturers place warnings on labels when there is a chance of cross contamination during the production of a product. By default, we don't include trace ingredients in our initial grade for a product. You can enable trace ingredient checks by creating an account and toggling the option in your account settings. Enabling trace ingredient checks will change how we grade products for your account. Our system warns you any time we find a trace ingredient that isn't compatible with your lifestyle diet.

I found a product that you graded incorrectly

Great! We aren't perfect but with your help we can get one step closer. Any time you think you found a product that we incorrectly graded as non-vegan, non-vegetarian, or not gluten-free please click the "Report" link. This alerts us to the issue so we can take steps to fix it.

Why are some non-English products graded incorrectly?

Some products on CHOMP don't have ingredients in English and are yet to be translated. Our system is best suited for determining the lifestyle compatibility of an ingredient in English. Please report any incorrectly graded products or contact us if you're interested in helping us translate ingredients.

How do I filter search results by my lifestyle?

Most search pages include an option to "Only Show Friendly Products". The option appears above the product cards and when clicked it will filter the results to only show products compatible with your lifestyle. You must be a registered user to see this option.