What you see
A UPF checker that only says “ultra-processed” is not much of a tool. Every Cull scan gives you the processing verdict, the score behind it, the additives that shaped it and the allergens that matter to you.
Every product is placed in NOVA group 1 to 4 — from minimally processed to ultra-processed — with the ingredients that decided the call shown to you, not hidden.
One transparent number built from three factors: nutritional quality, additive safety and processing level. The full calculation is visible in the app.
Emulsifiers, sweeteners, flavourings and colours are listed by name, with what each one is and why it affects the score.
Tell Cull your allergens once and every scan checks the label for you — flagged before you put the product in the basket.
The score itself is deliberately simple. Nutritional quality asks what the food gives you — fibre, protein, sugar, salt, saturated fat. Additive safety asks what was added and what is known about it. Processing level asks how far the product is from food someone could make in a kitchen. Three factors, one number, every calculation visible. Nothing proprietary, nothing you have to take on faith.
How it works
NOVA groups food by the extent and purpose of industrial processing, not by nutrients. Cull applies it the way its authors wrote it.
Under NOVA — the classification system developed by Carlos Monteiro and colleagues at the University of São Paulo — a food is ultra-processed when its ingredient list carries markers of industrial formulation: substances rarely used in home kitchens, such as protein isolates, maltodextrin and invert sugar, or cosmetic additives such as emulsifiers, flavourings, colours and non-sugar sweeteners. Cull scans the ingredient list for exactly these markers. You can read the full framework in our NOVA classification guide.
Just as important is what does not count. A preservative or antioxidant on its own does not make a food ultra-processed — NOVA keeps preserved foods like canned vegetables and cured meats in group 3. It is an easy distinction to miss — a checker that flags every additive would call a tin of preserved vegetables ultra-processed. Cull does not, because the distinction is the whole point of the system. Our guide to spotting ultra-processed food on the label walks through which ingredients are genuine markers and which are not.
Two honest caveats. First, classification depends on the specific product: mass-produced sliced bread is typically NOVA 4, but a bakery loaf of flour, water, yeast and salt is not — see our UK bread guide for how often the label surprises you. Second, NOVA itself has limits. When over 150 experts classified the same foods in a 2022 study, they reached only fair agreement (Fleiss kappa of roughly 0.32 to 0.34). That is why Cull shows you the triggering ingredients instead of handing down a verdict.
And a caveat on the health side: ultra-processed and unhealthy are correlated, not synonymous. A 2024 umbrella review in The BMJ covering around 9.9 million participants found higher UPF intake consistently associated with 32 adverse health outcomes — associated, not proven to cause. The UK's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition urges the same caution. Cull informs the choice. It does not make it for you.
Who it's for
Roughly half of the energy in the average UK adult diet — around 50 to 57 per cent — comes from ultra-processed food. If you want to know where yours comes from, this is the tool.
Cull is for people who read Ultra-Processed People and started turning packets over in the aisle. For parents comparing two cereals that both claim to be wholesome. For anyone with an allergy who is tired of reading the same label three times. And for anyone who wants to cut down on UPF without swearing off baked beans — some of which, it turns out, are not ultra-processed at all.
Scanning takes seconds: point the camera at a barcode, get the verdict, compare the alternative next to it on the shelf. See how Cull works step by step, or read how Cull compares to Yuka if you are weighing up food scanner apps for the UK.