Tarlo vs Bobby Approved: Whose Rules Do You Want?
Tarlo and Bobby Approved are philosophical cousins that split on one question. Both reject the universal health score; both check products against a defined rule list and give a clear yes/no. The split: whose list? Bobby Approved applies food blogger Bobby Parrish’s standards to everyone; Tarlo hands you the toggles. Here’s the honest comparison, including where Bobby’s approach is genuinely the better fit.
Both are worth trying — Tarlo is free; Bobby Approved is paid. The details below.
At a glance
| Tarlo | Bobby Approved | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose rules | Yours — you toggle them | Bobby Parrish’s fixed list |
| Verdict style | Meets / doesn’t meet your rules | Approved / not approved by Bobby |
| Built for | Canada (bilingual labels, Health Canada FOP) | US shelves and label names |
| Nutrient thresholds | Health Canada per reference amount | Ingredient-focused, not FOP-based |
| Swaps | Same-shelf alternatives that pass your rules | Limited |
| Shelf prices | Yes — shopper-reported | No |
| Price | Free | Paid app |
What Bobby Approved does well
Credit where due: Bobby Parrish built a huge audience by doing something genuinely useful — walking grocery aisles and reading labels on camera, ingredient by ingredient. The app bottles that: scan a product and see instantly whether it clears his standards (no artificial dyes, no HFCS, no problematic preservatives, clean oils — a list that overlaps heavily with Tarlo’s most popular presets). For shoppers who watch his content and trust his judgment, it’s zero-setup decisiveness: someone knowledgeable already decided. That’s a real product, and for the right user it’s the right product.
The fixed-list problem
The strength is the weakness. You can’t edit Bobby’s list. If you disagree with him on any single item — you’re fine with canola but strict on sweeteners; you avoid nitrites but not carrageenan — the verdicts stop mapping to your life, with no recourse. One person’s food philosophy, however thoughtful, applied to millions of different households is the universal-score problem wearing a friendlier face.
Tarlo’s bet is the opposite: presets for the same popular concerns (dyes, glucose-fructose, seed oils, sweeteners, nitrites, BHA/BHT) — but every one a toggle, plus Health Canada’s high-in thresholds that an ingredient-only list misses entirely.
The Canadian gap
Bobby Approved is built around US shelves and US label names. That bites in Canada in a familiar way: the dye he tells you to avoid as “Red 40” appears here as Allura Red; his HFCS warnings say nothing about “glucose-fructose”; French-side ingredient text isn’t in the picture; and Canadian store brands — President’s Choice, Compliments, No Name — are far from his catalog’s centre of gravity. Tarlo is built on the Canadian slice, matches both official languages, and speaks the names actually printed here.
After the verdict
Same gap as every other scanner: a “not approved” leaves you holding the product with no next move. Tarlo treats the fail as the midpoint — alternatives from the same shelf that pass your rules, each with a shopper-reported price. On a paid app the absence of follow-through stings a little more.
Who should pick what
- You follow Bobby, trust his list wholesale, and shop mostly US-national brands → Bobby Approved delivers exactly what it promises.
- You shop in Canada, your rules differ from anyone’s fixed list even slightly, or you want swaps and prices after the verdict → Tarlo, free.
- The whole field (Yuka, Fig, the newer scanners) is compared in best food scanner app in Canada; if price matters, the free-tier breakdown shows what each app includes.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bobby Approved available in Canada?
Yes, it’s downloadable here — availability isn’t the issue. Label-name matching, Canadian catalog depth and FOP thresholds are where the US design shows.
Do Tarlo’s presets match Bobby’s list?
They overlap heavily (dyes, HFCS, seed oils, artificial sweeteners, nitrites, BHA/BHT/TBHQ) — the popular concerns are the popular concerns. The difference is you can turn each off, add your own, and the nutrient rules use Health Canada’s actual thresholds.
Which is more “strict”?
Neither, meaningfully — strictness depends on which rules are on. Tarlo with every preset enabled is stricter than Bobby’s list; with two toggles on, looser. That’s the point of toggles.
Can I use both?
Sure — some shoppers cross-check. But since Tarlo can replicate a Bobby-style list and relax it where you disagree, most people converge on one.
Sources
- Bobby Approved — public app listing and feature pages, reviewed August 2026.
- Health Canada — front-of-package nutrition labelling: canada.ca
Tarlo reflects the rules you turn on and is for general information only — it is not medical or dietary advice. Regulatory details are Canadian and current as of the date above; always verify the product's physical label.
