Which Products Qualify for Non-UPF Verification

Source: The WISEcode Standard v1.0, Section 8.1.

The eligibility rule

Products classified as Minimal, Light or Moderate are eligible for Non-UPF Verification, provided they contain no ingredient from the Unique Ingredients of Concern list. Products classified as Ultra or Super-Ultra do not qualify.

The concern list is an absolute bar

A single ingredient from the concern list adds 16 points and forces the Super-Ultra band, so it disqualifies a product regardless of how favourable the rest of the formulation is. There is no partial credit and no offsetting.

Moderate products do qualify

This surprises people. A product can contain around ten ingredients, a small number of additives and a meaningful share of calories from added sugar, and still verify, as long as it stays within the Moderate band and carries nothing from the concern list.

Where a borderline product sits

The boundary between Moderate and Ultra falls between 10 and 11 points. Because the sugar penalty contributes up to 7 points, a product with a clean ingredient list can still be pushed out of eligibility by sugar alone.

Scope

Categories excluded from the Standard, including infant formula, medical foods, dietary supplements, alcoholic beverages, animal feed and unpackaged commodities, are not eligible because they are not scored.

Related reading

• What Is the Non-UPF Verified Program?
• Common Reasons Products Fail Verification (and How to Fix Them)
• The Non-UPF Verification Process: From Submission to Certification