Lab Testing & Product Ratings
For detailed information on our Testing & Rating process, you can visit our documentation page here.
What kind of information does Unbox Health use to rate products?
- All our ratings are exclusively based on lab-tested facts and zero “expert” opinions.
- Ratings are derived by evaluating lab results in the context of existing guidelines set forth by regulatory bodies such as FSSAI and ICMR.
- Keeping with our core principle of transparency, all underlying data - including lab test reports and purchase invoices - are made publicly accessible on the platform.
How does Unbox Health source its product samples?
As a non-negotiable rule, we do not not allow a brand or manufacturer to ever be involved in the sourcing/procurement process. We source all product samples directly from the market using one of the following channels:
- Authorised online marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Hyugalife, etc
- Quick commerce stores like BigBasket, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, etc
- Physical stores of pharmacies/authorised sellers
- Brand’s own website
How confident is Unbox Health in the ratings and lab testing results on the platform?
Short Answer: Very confident.
Long answer:
- Food testing can get complicated. And there are lots of ways in which lab tests can yield inconsistent results.
- We mitigate these risks by ensuring that every product sample is sent to at least 2 labs, and in some cases upto 4 labs. This increases our costs, but makes our process more robust.
- After receiving reports from multiple labs, we use our internal consensus rules to ensure that for every parameter in every sample, we arrive at a high-confidence number.
How does Unbox Health choose the food labs it partners with?
- We have now evaluated more than 25+ NABL-accredited, FSSAI-certified food labs in the country, and rejected the vast majority of them due to data quality and reliability issues.
- Lab testing quality and data accuracy are of primary importance to us - everything we do is based on the premise of collecting high quality data about the products on our platform.
- In this regard, we take our responsibility very seriously, and follow a rigorous assessment process when evaluating labs.
How many labs does Unbox Health work with?
- At present, we have selected 5 tier-1 labs to be part of our preferred network of lab partners.
- We have long-term agreements with these partners that allows us to scale our offering in a cost-effective manner.
- We are constantly re-evaluating our lab partners to ensure that they meet the standards of testing quality we expect of them.
Miscellaneous
Which categories of products does Unbox Health cover?
- We rate products across any and all categories in the packaged foods and health supplements industry (ie - any category that falls under FSSAI guidelines).
- We’re starting out by focussing on Nutraceuticals, Dietary Supplements, Sports Nutrition products and Breakfast Essentials. But we’ll very soon move into Ayurvedic Supplements, Baby Foods, Pregnancy Foods, Geriatric Nutrition products and even Pet Foods.
- In the next couple of years, we’ll also start covering categories in the skincare and personal care industry, where many of the same challenges exist.
How does Unbox Health earn money?
- At present (April 2024), Unbox Health does not earn any money. All testing is sponsored by Unbox Health.
- Moving forward, we will offer a suite of rating and certification solution to brands, charging them a fee for our service. The price of our service will not be linked to the rating or certification outcome - this means that Unbox Health will have no incentive to manipulate results. Brands can choose to keep these ratings private if they do not agree with or like these ratings.
- All ratings on Unbox Health that were requested by a brand will be explicitly called out alongside the rating on the platform.
Unbox Health claims to be unbiased. How can we trust that you will remain unbiased?
- We are building Unbox Health on the principles of Transparency, Autonomy and Factfulness.
- We believe we have the right incentive structures in place to ensure that we remain unbiased and negate any conflicts of interest, while building a sustainable business in the long-term.
- But don’t let our words convince you - allow us to earn your trust with our actions.
How does Unbox Health pick which products to test and rate?
For our initial launch, we looked at e-commerce data on the biggest marketplaces and picked popular products in each category.
Moving forward, Unbox Health will only rate products in one of two ways:
- Our users upvote products via transparent crowdsourced polls. The cost of testing these will be borne by Unbox Health, and the number of such products will be capped by a budget.
- A brand reaches out to Unbox Health to avail one of our rating or certification offerings for their products.
If a brand disagrees with a product rating, can they Challenge it?
Yes. If a brand disagrees with a product rating, they can challenge the rating via our transparent Challenge process. Here are the terms of UH's Challenge process:
- A brand can only Challenge a rating once.
- If a brand decides to Challenge a rating, Unbox Health will follow the same steps to re-rate the product. However, the brand must bear the full cost of sourcing and testing the product.
- Unbox Health will invoice the brand the full amount. The brand must pay this amount before the Challenge process begins. Note: Unbox Health will not earn any money from this Challenge process.
- For the duration of the Challenge process (typically a few weeks), the rating will be temporarily unpublished from Unbox Health's website.
- After the Challenge process is complete, the rating will be re-published on the website. If the Challenge process yields a new rating, the updated rating will be published along with a note on the rating page explaining this update.
Note: All past and ongoing Challenges can be tracked on our Challenge Tracker page.
Can a Brand have a product rating removed from Unbox Health?
No. A Brand cannot have a product rating removed from Unbox Health.
The only time a product rating can be removed is if the product line has been discontinued entirely, and the product has been de-listed from all marketplaces. Brands must submit a written request by email to contact@unboxhealth.in with proof that the product has been discontinued and de-listed from all marketplaces.
All product rating Removals can be tracked on our Removals Tracker page.
