How the Label Rating Works

A product’s label rating is based on how well its ingredients are dosed.

It has nothing to do with the experience of using the product, which is captured by the user review score.

Calculating the Label Rating per Product

After calculating the label rating for each ingredient, we average the scores together to get the label rating for the product.

For example, let’s say Product A has three ingredients with the following dosages:

  1. L-Citrulline: 3,000 mg
  2. Caffeine Anhydrous: 250 mg
  3. Beta-Alanine: 3,200 mg

And let’s say that the recommended dosages are used for each ingredient:

  1. L-Citrulline: 4,000 mg
  2. Caffeine Anhydrous: 250 mg
  3. Beta-Alanine: 3,200 mg

The label rating for each ingredient would be 75%, 100%, and 100%, respectively.

Therefore, the label rating for Product A is 92%.

First we add up the label rating of each ingredient:
0.75 + 1 + 1 = 2.75

Then we divide by the count of ingredients:
2.75/3 = .9167 = 92%

Calculating the Label Rating per Ingredient

An ingredient’s rating is based on two factors:

  1. The dosage of an ingredient for a given product
  2. The recommended dosage of that ingredient

We research ingredients to identify recommended dosages of each ingredient, then compare that the dosage on a product’s label.

For example, let’s say that the recommended minimum dosage of L-Citrulline is 4,000 mg.

If Product A has 3,000 mg of L-Citrulline per serving, L-Citrulline would receive a score of 75%.

 3,000 mg / 4,000 mg = 0.75 = 75%

If Product B has 10,000 mg of L-Citrulline per serving, L-Citrulline would receive a score of 100%.

10,000 / 4,000 = 2.5 = 250%

Each ingredient has a maximum score of 100% – a product does not receive a higher score for exceeding recommended dosages.

Calculating Label Rating for Proprietary Blends

If an ingredient label doesn’t disclose the dosage for an ingredient, that ingredient will have a label rating of 0%.

This means that if a product doesn’t disclose any ingredient dosages at all, then the product’s label rating will be 0%.

This doesn’t mean it’s a bad product. It might provide an amazing experience. It just has a bad label rating. This is why we provide a label rating and a user rating.

Semi-Proprietary Blend Ingredient Labels

If a product discloses the dosages for ingredients, but still hides the dosages for other ingredients, we will calculate the label rating for the disclosed ingredients and then remove 25 percentage points from the product’s total score to “account for” the hidden ingredient dosages.

El Jefe LTD Pre-Workout, a great product, is a good example of a “semi-proprietary” ingredient label.

Jefe LTD Pre-Workout Ingredient Label

This product’s label rating would be scored based on the dosages of the disclosed ingredients:

  • Citrulline Malate (2:1)
  • Beta-Alanine
  • Betaine Anhydrous
  • Taurine
  • VasoDrive-AP
  • BioPerine Black Pepper Extract

and then have the score reduced by 25 percentage points to account for the proprietary blend ingredients.

In this case, the six disclosed ingredients have a label rating of 100%, so the 25 percentage point reduction brings the product’s overall label rating down to 75%.