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Most product standards are designed to be the floor — the minimum a brand has to hit to say it's "clean." Ours are designed to be the ceiling. Every product on None of the Bad is individually reviewed. Not the brand. Not the founder's story. Not the packaging. The actual ingredients, sourced with documented evidence. We say no more than we say yes.
None of the Bad is currently accepting its first vendors. Every product submitted will be individually reviewed against the standards below before being listed.
Most certifiers tell you what you can't do. None of the Bad tells you what to change, and walks alongside you until you qualify. If your product doesn't pass, you get a real ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown — not a form rejection. Reformulate, resubmit, get listed. Because our goal isn't a small marketplace of perfect products. It's better products on every shelf.
Apply to Sell — We'll Tell You How to Get There →Minimum Score of 75 Required
Every product must achieve a score of 75 or higher to be listed on None of the Bad. Products scoring below 75 are automatically rejected, regardless of certifications or brand reputation — any banned ingredient means rejection, and a product with an incomplete label is not scored at all. Listing at 75 is the floor, not the goal: we work with every brand to reach 85. The score is calculated based on the factors below.
The None of the Bad score is a single 0–100 rating assigned to each individual product. It starts at 85 and moves from there: points come off for banned and flagged ingredients, sugar per serving, and undisclosed inputs; points go back on for verified organic certification, published lot testing, and clean sourcing. Every product card on None of the Bad displays that one score, plus decals explaining anything that pulled it down:
Elite Clean
Top-tier ingredients and premium sourcing, with published lab results for its batches
Verified Clean
Clean label with published lab results for its batches
Clean
Meets our standard comfortably — the number we coach brands to
Approved
Listed. We work with the brand to reach 85
Rejected
Below the listing threshold — cannot be sold here
The Natural Flavors Rule
An undisclosed natural flavor or natural color means the product is not listed — whatever else it earns. "Natural flavors," "organic flavor," a bare "flavor," and "natural color" all hide what's in the product, and the rule catches qualifier wording too: "natural fruit flavor" and "natural food color" both trigger it. There are two routes onto the shelf: name the components on the label (for example, "natural flavor (lavender oil, chamomile extract)"), or provide the flavor's composition for our review.
See exactly how we score →🔴 Red Flags — Disqualifying or Score-Penalizing
🟡 Amber Flags — Acceptable but Not Premium
🟢 Green Flags — Premium Indicators (Score Boosters)
🫙 Packaging Bonus
Glass or metal packaging earns a +4 credit. Other packaging loses nothing — it just doesn't earn the credit.
🍬 Sugar Penalty
Added sugar costs 1.6 points per gram per serving, weighted by category, regardless of source (cane, coconut, honey, date syrup). 8+ points triggers a HIGH SUGAR decal.
Any product containing a banned ingredient is automatically rejected from None of the Bad — no exceptions, regardless of quantity, trace amounts, or certification status.
Generated from the scoring engine — any one means rejection
🛢️ Refined oils — processing matters
Canola, rapeseed, sunflower, safflower, palm oil and palm fat are banned when refined. An oil named without "cold-pressed", "expeller-pressed", "unrefined" or "virgin" is treated as refined, so the product is not listed; the same oil named with one of those words costs nothing (unrefined red palm oil and virgin palm oil are not penalised). Soybean, corn, cottonseed, grapeseed, rice bran and unspecified vegetable oil or vegetable fat are banned however they're made.
Each card describes the ingredient and why it's on our list. "Banned" means we don't list it — it's our standard for what we carry, not medical advice.
Refined seed and vegetable oils
Oils pressed from seeds and refined with heat and solvents, plus refined palm oil and oil labelled only as "vegetable oil". Cold-pressed or unrefined canola, rapeseed, sunflower, safflower and palm oil are the exception.
On the list: canola oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, rice bran oil, palm oil, vegetable oil
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Hydrogenated and restructured fats
Liquid oils that have been chemically hardened or rearranged so they stay solid at room temperature.
On the list: partially hydrogenated oil, trans fat, interesterified fat
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Maltodextrin
A powder made by breaking down corn, rice or potato starch, used as a filler, thickener and carrier.
On the list: maltodextrin
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Modified food starch
Starch treated with heat, acids or enzymes to change how it thickens and holds up.
On the list: modified food starch
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Corn syrups
Sweet syrups made by breaking down corn starch; in high fructose corn syrup part of the glucose is converted to fructose.
On the list: high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Refined wheat flour
Wheat milled to remove the bran and germ. "Wheat flour" with no qualifier counts as refined. Whole, sprouted and ancient-grain flours are the exception.
On the list: refined flour, bleached flour, enriched flour, wheat flour, white flour, all-purpose flour
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Synthetic dyes
Color additives made synthetically, plus anything labelled only as "artificial color".
On the list: artificial color, red 40, red 3, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, blue 2, green 3, orange b
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Titanium dioxide
A white mineral pigment used to make foods and coatings look brighter and more opaque.
On the list: titanium dioxide
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Artificial flavors
Flavoring compounds made synthetically rather than taken from a food source.
On the list: artificial flavor
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Synthetic sweeteners
High-intensity sweeteners made synthetically and used in place of sugar.
On the list: aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, saccharin, neotame
Not listed on None of the Bad.
MSG and added glutamates
Monosodium glutamate, and ingredients added mainly for their glutamate, such as autolyzed yeast extract and hydrolyzed vegetable protein.
On the list: msg
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Synthetic antioxidant preservatives
Synthetic antioxidants added to fats, oils and packaged foods to delay rancidity.
On the list: bha, bht, tbhq
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Nitrite and nitrate curing salts
Curing salts added to processed meats for color and shelf life.
On the list: sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Potassium bromate
A flour improver added to strengthen dough and help bread rise.
On the list: potassium bromate
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Brominated vegetable oil (BVO)
Vegetable oil bonded with bromine, used to keep citrus flavoring suspended in drinks.
On the list: brominated vegetable oil
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Propylparaben
A synthetic preservative used in some foods and cosmetics.
On the list: propylparaben
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Unnamed "artificial preservatives"
Any preservative a label describes only as "artificial" or "chemical" without naming it.
On the list: artificial preservative
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Carrageenan
A thickener extracted from red seaweed and processed with alkali, common in dairy and plant milks.
On the list: carrageenan
Not listed on None of the Bad.
Also on the list
Listed in the scoring engine; a plain-language note is on its way.
On the list: hydrolyzed corn protein, hydrolyzed wheat protein, hvp, acid-hydrolyzed, hexane, solvent-extracted, liquid smoke, smoke flavor, natural smoke flavor, hickory smoke flavor
Not listed on None of the Bad.