How we go from a label to a score, step by step.
What happens between a product reaching the shelf and a score appearing on this site: what we check, where AI tools help, what we don't do yet, and how money is kept away from the verdict.
Built on the label, the brand's own documents and published human research.
Not yet. We don't lab-test products today. It's planned through the Brand Review Program.
AI tools help with data and drafts. They don't decide scores; the rubric does.
Every review follows the same nine steps. Where a step only applies to some reviews, it says so.
Pick the product.
We review products readers ask about, bestsellers on major Indian retailers and platforms, new launches in categories we cover, and products flagged to us through tips. Products can also come through the Brand Review Program, and those reviews are labelled.
Record the label and the documents.
We record the full label: the supplement-facts panel, ingredient list and every claim on the pack or retailer listing, along with price, pack size and the FSSAI licence number. If the brand publishes certificates of analysis or third-party test results, we record those too, and note whether they're for a specific batch.
Check the evidence.
For each active ingredient, we compare the dose and form on the label with the human studies behind it, preferring randomised controlled trials and meta-analyses over animal or cell studies. The studies we rely on are cited in the review.
No lab testing yet.
We don't currently lab-test products. Reviews are based on the label, the brand's own documents and published research, and any purity finding comes from what the brand has published. Lab testing is planned through the Brand Review Program's Lab Verified tier, under that program's rules. When a review includes lab results, it will name the lab and the batch.
Some products carry a Personally tested badge. It means someone on the team bought the product with their own money and used it, with the dates shown. That's hands-on use, not a lab test, and it doesn't change the score.
Score against the rubric.
Each product is scored on five dimensions: clinical dose, ingredient form, purity and manufacturing, value, and label honesty. The standards and weights are public on the rubric page. Whether a brand is a sponsor or a program client is not an input.
AI-assisted.
We use AI tools to help extract label data, compare doses with study data and draft summaries, working from the structured inputs above and our editorial criteria. AI can make mistakes, so check label details and prices with the brand before you buy, and if you spot an error, tell us and we'll correct it.
Brand Review Program: seven days' notice.
Only for program reviews. The brand sees the findings and any lab report seven days before publication, so it can point out factual errors and send one written response of up to 500 words, which we publish next to the review. Disagreeing with the score isn't a factual error, and publication isn't delayed over it.
Publish, with sources and disclosures.
The review goes live with its sources cited and its sub-scores visible, so you can see which dimension moved the total. Any commercial relationship, whether a sponsorship, a program review or affiliate links, is disclosed on the page.
Correct and re-review.
We re-open a review when a brand changes its formula or label, when new evidence changes the picture, or when a reader reports a credible error. Corrections and re-reviews are logged in the database changelog.
What money never touches.
Affiliate links, category sponsorships and Brand Review Program fees pay for the site, and Google ads are planned. None of them can do any of this.
No score adjustment.
No payment changes a score, a ranking or a verdict. Commercial status isn't an input to the rubric.
No free samples.
We don't accept free products or samples in return for coverage, from sponsors or anyone else.
No anecdotal scores.
If a sub-score can't be tied to the label, a document, a study or a written rubric standard, it isn't included.
Read the full conflicts policy.
How we're paid, sponsorship terms, the Brand Review Program rules and every active disclosure are in our conflicts-of-interest policy.