Our Sources
Trulu's scoring model is built on Australian-first, authoritative sources - led by FSANZ and the TGA, supplemented by international regulators and peer-reviewed science. Here's the complete list.
Regulatory bodies
FSANZ
Food Standards Australia New Zealand
The primary regulatory body for food safety in Australia. We use FSANZ guidelines for additive safety, permitted ingredient lists, nutrition labelling standards, and maximum residue limits.
EFSA
European Food Safety Authority
Where FSANZ lacks specific guidance, we reference EFSA safety opinions. EFSA maintains one of the most comprehensive additive evaluation databases in the world.
TGA
Therapeutic Goods Administration
For supplements and therapeutic products, TGA regulations inform our scoring criteria, including permitted active forms, dosage guidelines, and label claim validation.
WHO
World Health Organisation
WHO nutritional guidelines, particularly for sugar, sodium, and fat intake, provide our baseline daily reference values for nutritional profiling.
IARC
International Agency for Research on Cancer
IARC monographs inform our assessment of ingredients with potential carcinogenicity concerns, including certain additives and processing byproducts.
FDA
US Food & Drug Administration
FDA GRAS (Generally Recognised as Safe) assessments and food additive regulations supplement our analysis where Australian and European data is limited.
Scientific literature
Our ingredient assessments and scoring weights reference published meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and landmark studies from peer-reviewed journals including:
- The BMJ (British Medical Journal)
- The Lancet
- JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association)
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Nutrients
- Food Chemistry
- Public Health Nutrition
We prioritise systematic reviews and meta-analyses over individual studies. When evidence is emerging or contested, we note that in our ingredient assessments rather than making definitive claims.
Product data
See our Data Sources page for full details on where our product data comes from, including Open Food Facts, retailer catalogues, and user-submitted scans.