Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to Common Questions

Q: How should I interpret GoodGuide ratings?
A: GoodGuide rates products and companies on a scale of 0 to 10. A score of 10 means the product or company performs very well relative to other products in a category or other companies in an industrial sector. A score of 0 means the product or company performs very poorly.  We overlay color coding on top of our numerical scores to make it even easier to separate the good from the bad. Green is used to highlight good scores, orange/yellow highlights mid-range scores, while red highlights poor scores. More on how to use GoodGuide's ratings. 

A: GoodGuide uses the best available science and data to rate products and companies.  We are transparent about the methodology we use to compile our ratings, and we allow our users to view every attribute we use in our ratings (just follow the link to full rating details provided in every rating panel). Our approach to ratings has been developed with the support of independent experts who advise government agencies, NGOs, and industry leading companies on the health, environmental, and social impacts of products and companies. The leaders of our scientific team are recognized experts in the fields of health risk assessment, environmental informatics, life cycle assessment, and social impact evaluation.  As a commercial business, we have strong firewalls between our ratings team and our business development team.  We earn revenue from the sale of sustainability information products to corporations, but this business does not give any company the ability to influence the rating it is given by the GoodGuide system. More on who is behind GoodGuide.

Our approach is unique: we aggregate and compare multiple, vetted data sources to help reduce the likelihood of erroneous source data. To ensure that GoodGuide takes only the best data available into consideration for its ratings, our science team carefully assesses the strengths and weaknesses of all of our data sources. Evaluation of data sources include whether they are:

• Compiled by trustworthy government, NGO, or academic sources;
• Produced according to clear and well-defined standards and procedures;
• Verified or checked for their quality by independent authorities; and,
• Honest and open in acknowledging their uncertainties and data gaps.

Q: Do GoodGuide ratings change over time?

A: GoodGuide is committed to continuous improvement in the quality of the ratings we provide.  This means that we will regularly be updating our system to reflect the most current data available.  On occasion, we will also make enhancements to our ratings system that increase its ability to discriminate between products and companies on various attributes.

In June 2010, for example, we updated our system to incorporate an improved approach to characterizing the health impacts of consumer products.  This update substantially expanded the number of adverse health effects our system considers when assessing the hazards posed by ingredients in personal care and household chemical products.  We combined our expanded hazard identification data with newly acquired data on the the potency, human exposure and toxicity data available for chemicals.  Ingredients are now placed into "level of concern" categories based on their number of recognized and suspected health effects, their relative toxic potency, whether they are frequently detected in humans, and whether the basic toxicity testing needed to assess chemical safety has been conducted.  To assign a health hazard score to a product, GoodGuide now counts the number of its ingredients that are categorized as low, medium or high concern. This update is a significant improvement over our beta rating system that was largely based on whether ingredients were on different lists of "bad actor" chemicals.  Our new approach better reflects the scientific methods currently used to assess chemical risks and enables us to fully utilize our rating system's 0-to-10 scale to help differentiate products by their potential health impact. 

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Q: I found an error in the data. How do I report it?
A: GoodGuide is dedicated to accuracy, and we appreciate notification of any inaccuracy. You can easily report problems or errors, or make suggestions using our online discussion forum. 

Q: Is animal testing taken into account in your ratings?
A: Animal testing is not taken into account in our ratings, but we provide three easy ways for consumers to make sure that products are animal-friendly:

1. You can sort product results with the "Not Tested on Animals" filter, which can be found in the right-hand column of any browse page. You can see an example of the filter applied here.  The heading will show up in bold to tell you you are "currently viewing" the filtered results.
2. Any animal-friendly product page will display the certification mark used by PETA ("Cruelty-free") and/or the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics ("Leaping Bunny"). You can see an example of this here.  Under the heading, "Product Certifications and Listings" hover your mouse over either icon for a full description of the certification. You can also click "see more products" for a complete list of products covered by a certification.
3. On the home page in the left-most "browse" column, find animal-free food products under the "Vegan" heading.

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