TRANSPARENCY
How BITESCORE Is Calculated
We turn your stars and selected details into a review score from 1 to 99. The product score is the level-weighted average of eligible reviews. The review score and the level’s influence on the average are shown separately.
Reviews do not all carry equal weight. Level reflects in-app activity; it does not verify expertise or that an opinion is more accurate. The score does not establish verified purchase or product safety.
Jump to the illustrative calculationIllustrative calculation
Imagine three different members reviewing the same product. The reviews below are entirely fictional; they are not added to real product scores or saved to the database. Their scores come from the same engine that calculates product scores.
1. Calculate the review score
The score anchors for the overall star rating are:
- 1 star1
- 2 stars25
- 3 stars50
- 4 stars75
- 5 stars99
Taste, design and value for money are optional: Low = 1, Medium = 50, High = 99. The overall score has a coefficient of 4; each valid selected detail has a coefficient of 1. The denominator changes with the number of selected details.
Review score = round to the nearest integer [(4 × overall score + sum of valid details) ÷ (4 + number of valid details)]
Review 1: 4 stars (75), High taste (99), Medium design (50), Low value for money (1).
Round [(4 × 75 + 99 + 50 + 1) ÷ (4 + 3)] = 64
The same 4 stars give a score of 75 if no details are selected. Missing details are not counted as zero; they are left out. With all three details selected, the overall score accounts for 4/7 and each detail for 1/7.
2. Combine three reviews into the product score
Each row is a different member’s review of the same product. Assume the current version of all three is approved. Review score and level influence are separate values: level influence determines the score’s weight in the product average.
Three reviews, one product score Review Level Score Level influence Review 14 stars, three details 1 64 1.00× Review 25 stars, no details 10 99 1.10× Review 32 stars, Low taste; no text 25 20 1.25× Level is saved at submission or the last edit and may differ from the level shown on the profile today. The scores in the table are the review scores before applying the level multiplier.
Product score = weighted sum ÷ sum of weights
(64 × 1.00 + 99 × 1.10 + 20 × 1.25) ÷ (1.00 + 1.10 + 1.25)
197.9 ÷ 3.35
Product score59Rounded to an integer
With equal weights, the product score would be 61. Here, the low-scoring third review has a higher weight, so the result is 59. A level influence of 1.25× does not add 25 points to the score; it increases its relative weight in the product average.
Show the influence multiplier for each level
- Level 1–4
- 1.00×
- Level 5–9
- 1.05×
- Level 10–14
- 1.10×
- Level 15–19
- 1.15×
- Level 20–24
- 1.20×
- Level 25+
- 1.25×
3. Read the count and rounding together
- The review count here is 3. Review 3 counts because it has a star rating, even without text. A fourth, text-only comment without a rating would change neither this count nor the product score. Details are not separate votes.
- The review score and product average are rounded separately to the nearest integer, with exact halves rounded up. Product scores display 1–99. With no eligible rated reviews, the label is “NEW”.
- Only rated reviews whose current version is finally approved and public enter the durable product score. A review being provisionally visible does not mean its rating already contributes.
How should I read the score?
BiteScore shows the level-weighted consumer opinion of reviewing members. It is not a simple arithmetic average of stars, and reviews do not all carry equal weight. Level grows through in-service activity and XP; it does not verify expertise or that a member’s opinion is more accurate. The calculation applies the same multiplier to positive and negative scores at the same level.
The score does not establish verified purchase, product use, scientific quality or product safety. Small samples, extreme ratings, coordinated behaviour and undisclosed conflicts can affect it. Reviewing members are not a random sample representing all consumers.
Task rewards do not require a positive rating and give no direct score or weight bonus to the submitted review. However, earned XP can increase a member’s level and indirectly affect the level weight used on a later submission or edit. A reward disclosure does not verify purchase or product use.
How are edits and older records handled?
Editing saves the review score and the member’s current level weight; even a text-only edit can refresh the weight. A later level increase alone does not automatically change an older review. Web and mobile forms resend existing detail selections; detail fields omitted from an API submission are cleared. The edited version’s approval status determines whether it contributes.
This example shows reviews saved with the current calculation. For older records without a saved review score, the compatibility calculation divides the stored 1–7 rating by 7, multiplies by 100 and rounds; a missing weight defaults to 1. Older and newer records may therefore have different star-to-score mappings. The product score is still bounded to 1–99.
The relevant sections of the Terms and Privacy Notice follow below. The BiteData business service is currently unavailable; no data, reports or user reviews are provided to organisations through that service.
01
Score And Reward Terms
- A product score is consumer opinion expressed as a weighted average of eligible review scores. It is not the simple arithmetic average of the displayed stars: the overall rating and any valid selected details first become a review score, then those scores are combined using level weights. The score is not selected by the operator, manufacturer or advertiser, or determined in return for payment.
- The level weight ranges from 1.00 to 1.25 and is saved using the level you have reached at submission or the latest edit; a text-only edit can also refresh it. A level increase alone does not automatically change the weight of earlier reviews. The multiplier determines relative influence on the product average; it is not a fixed number of extra score points. Level develops through in-service activity and XP; it is not a measure of verified expertise or review accuracy.
- Scores, rankings, community views and AI-assisted summaries reflect user experience; they are not scientific assessments of health, nutrition, allergen suitability or product safety. They may be incomplete, outdated or incorrect and do not guarantee quality, availability or suitability for you.
- Before using a product, check its current packaging, ingredients and allergen information, nutrition label, expiry date, storage instructions and manufacturer notices. App information is not a substitute for qualified advice on allergies, diagnosis, treatment, diet or emergencies.
- Product information, barcodes and images may come from manufacturers, users or sources such as Open Food Facts. The Data Sources and Licences page explains attribution and licensing. You can report errors you find.
- Only products approved for publication and suitable for a general audience are shown in the catalogue, search, recommendations, lists, Clashes and other community areas. Age-restricted, otherwise restricted or unreviewed products are not offered to users.
- BITESCORE. does not verify that a reviewer purchased, used or received a product as a gift. A review or rating is not proof of those circumstances or of the reviewer's identity.
- Neutral in-service tasks may earn BiteCoin or XP. A reward does not require a positive rating and adds no direct score or weight bonus to that submission. However, earned XP may allow you to claim a higher level later; the new level weight can apply to a subsequent submission or edit. A separate disclosure may appear where a task reward associated with a review can be established; its absence does not guarantee the absence of third-party incentives. A reward disclosure does not verify purchase or product use. Virtual gifts between members are a separate social feature. Undisclosed incentives and score manipulation are prohibited.
02
About BiteData
The BiteData business service is disabled. No organisation or commercial customer receives product analysis, review text, quotations, user references, demographic groups or other outputs through it. Current reviews support only core BITESCORE. scoring, discovery, security and moderation.
No new birth year, demographic gender category or province information is collected for this service, and no new demographic consent is requested. Any historical records are not active service inputs; an earlier consent record is not permission for new or future processing. Access, correction, withdrawal and deletion rights remain available for those records.
Any future launch requires updated Terms, Privacy Notice, Community Rules and store privacy disclosures, and completion of provider, recipient and international-transfer requirements. Relevant acceptance and, where necessary, separate purpose-specific consent must precede the new processing. Existing contributions cannot become retrospectively eligible for commercial use merely because the service opens or you accept later general terms; only later contributions made under the new conditions may qualify.
A public review or task-reward disclosure does not authorise reuse of your review, username, name, image or identity in advertising, promotional material or testimonials. Such use requires separate, specific and lawful authority.