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Know if it suits each child.

The portion counts

The rating is always based on an age-appropriate portion. It grows with the child's energy needs – sauces and spreads are rated by the tablespoon, nuts and dried fruit by the handful, drinks by the glass.

Kindgericht checks what percentage of the recommended daily maximum of free sugars, saturated fat and salt one portion contains. Lactose in yoghurt and the like doesn't count, and sugar from fruit without added sugar only counts half.

The basis is the recommendations of the WHO and the German Nutrition Society (DGE): free sugars below 10 %, ideally 5 % of daily energy – Kindgericht uses 5 %. Saturated fat below 10 % of energy, salt below 5 g a day for adults and correspondingly less for children. For children under 2, ESPGHAN recommends avoiding added sugar as far as possible.

For each child, the app shows which rule was applied and who recommends it – and only then the recommendation derived from it: how often and how much.

Ingredients matter too: if a product consists mainly of nuts, fruit, vegetables, pulses or whole grains, it is rated one level better. A handful of nuts is healthy, after all.

Product data comes from open databases such as Open Food Facts. If the ingredient list is missing there, the app reads it from the packaging photo where available, or assumes the typical ingredients for clear-cut products such as trail mix. If nutrition data, ingredients or the product image are missing altogether, the app looks for similar products on Open Food Facts and uses their average values, typical ingredients and an example image – clearly labelled. The app shows the source right in the nutrition, ingredients and additives sections.

Additives such as E551 are explained with category, a short description and source – for example the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) or the mandatory EU warning.