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Methodology · sources last checked Nov 4, 2026

Methodology

Every product starts at 100 points. Published rules take points off for what the ingredient list contains, for your child's age group. Two things can hide the number: a veto rule, and too little recognised text.

Weights and band limits are provisional. They will be tuned on real labels, and this page always shows the current ones.

Not reviewed by a doctor

The thresholds and rule weights come from the published sources below. No doctor or paediatrician has reviewed them. This is a methodological rating, not medical advice.

Page last revised: Nov 4, 2026

Score bands

The score maps to one of three phrases, always tied to an age group. “Not sure” is a state, not a fourth verdict: it appears when too little of the list was recognised.

  • 70 to 100Suitable
  • 40 to 69With reservations
  • 1 to 39Not recommended for this age by our rating

We never give a product a health or safety verdict. The rating describes how a list scores against published criteria, nothing more.

How sure the answer is

We never rate a guess. Every check ends on one step of this ladder, and the result says which step and why. A line we do not understand can only lower the score, never raise it, so a score from part of a list is an honest upper limit.

  1. Number. Every line understood: the number, the verdict and the reasons.
  2. No exact number. Up to 3 words we do not know, none of which can hide sugar, salt, honey, a sweetener or a preservative: “not higher than N”, with the words named. Never “Suitable”. The same when a rule for this age reads the nutrition table and it was not read.
  3. No exact number. A line that may hide something our rules check (an unknown E-number, “preservative X”, a word with sugar or salt), or more than 3 unknown words: a verdict from what was found, without a number. Never “Suitable”.
  4. No exact number. Part of the list could not be read: what the rest says, an upper limit, and a request for a new photo. A deciding reason found in the read part still decides.
  5. No exact number. Only the nutrition table could be read: what it says, without a number.
  6. No claim. Nothing could be read: why, what to retake, and typing the list by hand. No claim about the product.

Veto

A veto is a rule that sets the verdict "Not recommended for this age by our rating" on its own. There is no number then, and the reason comes first. A veto applies only to the listed age groups and rests on sources.

Score limits

  • The score starts at 100 and never goes below 1.
  • Rules of the same category do not add up: only the largest penalty counts. The others are listed as not subtracted.
  • If a “high in sugars” or “high in salt” per 100 g rule fires, the verdict is at most “With reservations”, whatever the score. The score itself does not change.

The rules

This table is generated from our rule table when the page is built. Every rule has a reason and at least one source.

Allergens

Allergen rules never change the score. When one of these allergens is printed in the ingredient list, it appears as a note: Cereals containing gluten, Crustaceans, Eggs, Fish, Peanuts, Soybeans, Milk, Nuts, Celery, Mustard, Sesame seeds, Sulphur dioxide and sulphites, Lupin, Molluscs.

A worked example

A made-up ingredient list for 1 to 3 years, run through the same rules engine as the tool. The numbers on this page are the engine's output when the page is built, not typed by hand.

Made-up label · Ingredients

oat flour, sugar2 (Lowers the score), rice flour, sweetener (E951)1 (Lowers the score), potassium sorbate (E202)3 (Lowers the score), vitamin B1.

Result

With reservations

1 to 3 years

Recognised: 6 of 6 lines (100%)

Start100

  1. Lowers the score

    Sweeteners, under 4 years−30Category: sugars and sweetenersA sweetener is listed in the ingredients. WHO says sweeteners should not be given to children aged 6-23 months; under EU rules (Regulation 1333/2008, Article 16) only listed additives may be used in foods for infants and young children, and the list for that category contains no sweeteners; NHS advice (UK) is to avoid food and drink with sweeteners for children aged 4 or younger. By our methodological rating this lowers the score.= 70

  2. Lowers the score

    Added sugar, 1 to 3 years(−20)Category: sugars and sweetenersNot subtracted: the larger penalty of the same category countsSugar or a sugar syrup is listed in the ingredients. WHO says children up to 23 months should not be given foods high in sugar, ESPGHAN notes that free sugar intake should probably be even lower in children under 2 years than in older ones, NHS advice (UK) is to avoid food and drink with sugar for children aged 4 or younger, and WHO recommends keeping free sugars below 10% of energy intake. By our methodological rating this lowers the score; we count a sugar in the ingredient list as a signal.

  3. Lowers the score

    Preservatives, under 3 years−20Category: processingA preservative is listed in the ingredients (for example a sorbate, benzoate, sulphite, propionate, nitrite or nitrate). Under EU rules (Regulation 1333/2008, Article 16) only listed additives may be used in foods for infants and young children, and preservatives of this kind are not on the list for that category (Regulation 1129/2011). That rule concerns foods made for infants and young children; by our methodological rating we apply it to this product as well, which lowers the score.= 50

  4. Note

    Allergen printed in the list: Cereals containing glutenNote only, the score does not changeFound in the ingredient list: Cereals containing gluten (one of the 14 allergens in Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011). This is a note about the ingredient list only.

If in doubt, and always with allergies, ask a paediatrician.

What Lulyo does not do

  • We list allergens printed in the ingredient list. We don't assess traces or cross-contamination.
  • It is not medical advice and does not know your child's health, allergies or diagnoses. If in doubt, and always with allergies, ask a paediatrician.
  • It does not let the AI decide. The AI only reads the text; the rules, weights and sources are fixed and listed on this page.
  • Recognition of a photo can be wrong, which is why you can correct the text first.

Sources

Primary documents behind the rules. Each was last opened and checked on the date shown.

Disclaimer

Lulyo is not medical advice and does not replace a doctor. If your child has an allergy, a condition or you have any doubt, ask a paediatrician.

A methodological rating, not medical advice.

Corrections

If you think a rule or a source is wrong, tell us. Corrections to the table are published with a date.

Contact for corrections: hello@lulyo.com