The best microplastics scanner app, honestly
We make one of these apps, so read this accordingly — and then check the tables, because they contain rows we lose. Every claim about another app comes from that company's own public materials, with a link and a date.
The short answer
If you want one app to judge food quality generally, use Yuka or Olive. They have far larger barcode databases than we do and they score things we do not score at all. Neither publishes a term for the packaging, the polymer or the temperature — so the same yogurt in a glass jar and a plastic pot gets the same number.
That gap is the entire reason this app exists. If plastics are the thing you are trying to reduce, you need a model with the container in it.
The one row that matters
Every scanner in this category scores what is in the product. The question this site was built around is what the product is in, and what you then do to it.
| Scores | Broad scanners | MicroPlastics |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredients and additives | Core strength | Cosmetics only |
| Nutrition and processing | Core strength | Not covered |
| Contaminant flags | Yes, as flags | Microplastics only, as the whole model |
| Packaging format | Not in published models | 30 of 100 points |
| Polymer identity | Not in published models | Core — PET and PP score differently |
| Heat, abrasion, reuse | Not in published models | 25 of 100 points |
| Evidence grade per claim | Not in published models | A–D, caps stated confidence |
One at a time
MicroPlastics vs Olive
Holistic food and cosmetic scannerOlive scores what is in the food. It does not score what the food is in. On the axis this app exists for — the container, the polymer, and the conditions it is used under — there is nothing in Olive’s model to compare against. A yogurt in a glass jar and the same yogurt in a plastic pot are the same product to Olive. They are not the same product here.
MicroPlastics vs Yuka
Food and cosmetic scannerYuka’s published food score is 60% nutrition, 30% additives and 10% organic status. By their own published numbers there is no term in that formula for the container, the polymer, or the temperature it was stored at. That is the entire question this app answers — scored across 100 points with 30 of them on packaging alone — and it is not a number Yuka produces.
MicroPlastics vs Plack
Microplastics scannerThe closest like-for-like competitor, and the gap is everything behind the score. We publish the model component by component, grade every product A–D by how directly the claim was measured, and report confidence separately from risk so you can see which numbers to lean on. Plack publishes a score.
MicroPlastics vs PlastIQ
Detect microplasticsThe closest competitor conceptually — packaging-aware, 0–100, exposure tracking. Two practical differences: scanning here does not sit behind a paywall on first use, and the whole database is readable on the web for free without an account. We also publish the model and grade the evidence, so you can see which numbers rest on a laboratory result and which rest on an inference.
MicroPlastics vs Microplastics AI
Scan food and drinks for microplasticsVery similar on the surface. The difference is what is underneath: a published five-component model, an A–D evidence grade on every product, confidence reported separately from risk, and a free web database anyone can read without installing anything. Feature parity is easy to reach in this category. An auditable model is not.
Don't take our word for any of this
The database is on the web, free, with no account. 132 products scored component by component, 30 materials, 15 packaging formats, and 24 sources listed with the limitation of each. Look at the working before you install anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which app is best for checking microplastics?
Does Olive detect microplastics?
Does Yuka check for microplastics?
Are these comparisons fair, given you make one of the apps?
Something out of date? These pages were last checked against public materials on August 9, 2026. Apps change. If a competitor has shipped something that makes a row here wrong, tell us and we will update it — including when it makes them look better.