The Loot Standard
The strictest published ingredient standard in American grocery retail
Loot exists for one reason: to make real food findable. The Loot Standard is the bar every product clears before it earns the shelf.
The Principle
A product earns a place on the Loot shelf when it is:
Honestly made.
With nothing hidden.
That is the entire standard. Everything below is how we apply it.
What We Exclude
Industrial sweeteners. No high-fructose corn syrup. No agave. No maltodextrin. No brown rice syrup. No artificial sweeteners — aspartame, sucralose, ace-K, saccharin. No sugar alcohols — erythritol, xylitol, allulose. No isolated stevia or monk fruit extracts. Real sweeteners only: raw honey, maple syrup, dates, organic cane sugar, coconut sugar, molasses.
Refined seed and vegetable oils. No canola, soybean, corn, refined sunflower, refined safflower, grapeseed, rice bran, or cottonseed oil. Nothing hexane-extracted, hydrogenated, or chemically refined. Cold-pressed unrefined oils only — real olive oil, virgin coconut oil, cold-pressed avocado oil, traditional animal fats.
Natural flavors and the flavor industry. No natural flavors, natural flavorings, vanillin, synthetic vanilla, or smoke flavor. Real vanilla extract, real spice blends (verified with the founder), real herbs, real citrus zest only.
Industrial texturizers and emulsifiers. No gums of any kind — xanthan, guar, locust bean, gellan. No carrageenan. No modified food starches. No soy or sunflower lecithin. No mono- and diglycerides. Real cream emulsifies a sauce. Real egg yolk emulsifies a mayonnaise.
Synthetic preservatives. No BHA, BHT, TBHQ, EDTA. No sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate. No sulfites or sulfur dioxide. No industrial citric acid. No added nitrites or nitrates — including the celery-powder workaround used in "uncured" cured meats. No cultured dextrose or cultured wheat used as preservatives.
Artificial colors and color additives. No Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, or any artificial dye. No caramel color in any class. No titanium dioxide. No carmine, cochineal, or any unspecified "color added." Real annatto in real aged cheddar is part of a centuries-old tradition; that we accept.
Industrial protein isolates and isolated fibers. No hydrolyzed proteins of any kind. No soy, pea, whey, or rice protein isolates processed with chemical solvents. No texturized vegetable protein. No "natural beef flavor" or other hidden glutamates. No isolated fibers used as functional additives — no inulin, no oat fiber, no soluble corn fiber, no bamboo fiber, no pea fiber. Real food, not extracted components.
Synthetic fortification. No synthetic vitamins or minerals added as fortification — no synthetic ascorbic acid, no cyanocobalamin, no ferrous sulfate. Real nutrients from real food only.
Hormones in dairy, caged eggs, PPO-treated almonds. No rBGH or rBST in dairy. Cage-free eggs at minimum. Steam-pasteurized almonds only (no PPO chemical sterilization). Non-irradiated spices strongly preferred and verified during founder onboarding.
The standard also excludes treated flours (enriched, bromated, bleached), industrial anti-caking agents, and chemical-solvent decaffeination. Decaf coffee at Loot is Swiss water, Mountain Water Process, or supercritical CO₂ extraction only.
What We Stand For
Real food. The standard accepts:
- Real sweeteners — raw honey, maple syrup, birch syrup, coconut nectar, dates, organic cane sugar, coconut sugar, molasses
- Cold-pressed unrefined oils — extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, cold-pressed avocado oil, real animal fats from whole cuts
- Mineral salts, real vinegars, fresh and bottled citrus juice
- Whole-food emulsifiers — egg yolks, real cream, real gelatin, traditional fruit-extracted pectin
- Real flavors — whole spices and herbs (verified), real extracts, real fermentation-derived seasonings
- Native starches as traditional thickeners — organic cornstarch, tapioca, arrowroot, potato
- Traditional preservation — salt, vinegar, sugar, fermentation, dehydration, smoking with real wood, refrigeration, freezing, canning
When in doubt, the standard returns to the principle: real food, honestly made, with nothing hidden.
How the Standard Is Applied
Every product on the Loot shelf has been individually reviewed against the standard. No product is on the shelf because it sells. No product is ordered from a distributor catalogue. No product earns its place because of brand recognition.
Each founder completes a written questionnaire before any product is reviewed. The questionnaire captures every ingredient, every source, every process. Spices, natural flavors, colors, decaffeination methods, protein extraction, and any catch-all term on a label require founder confirmation in writing.
When an ingredient is ambiguous, the founder asks the brand clarifying questions. If the answer remains gray, the product is not carried. Decisions are documented and archived. As Loot grows toward the Network and Capital layers, governance of the standard moves to a four-person Standards Committee — the founder, the head of member experience, the head chef, and a rotating outside expert. That transition is part of the V.2 plan.
When a product is reformulated and an excluded ingredient is introduced, the product is delisted. When a founder cannot verify a clause, the product is delisted. The standard does not bend for any brand, no matter how popular.
A Note on Sourcing
The current standard does not require organic certification, third-party non-GMO verification, or specific animal welfare certifications across the board to earn shelf space. We celebrate these practices and our curation favors them, but they are not absolute gates today — with four exceptions: rBGH/rBST-free dairy, cage-free eggs, steam-pasteurized almonds, and no synthetic vitamin and mineral fortification. These are the V.1 sourcing minimums. Non-irradiated spices are strongly preferred and verified during founder onboarding.
This is intentional. Many of the small founders we champion make products that exceed certified organic standards in practice but cannot yet afford the certification process. The standard prioritizes what is in the product over what is on the label.
The full sourcing standard will be formalized in a future version. We will get there.
What This Means for You
When you shop at Loot, you are not deciphering label claims. You are choosing from a curated catalogue that has already cleared a single, strict, public bar. The work happens before the product hits the shelf, so you can focus on what you want to eat rather than what you have to avoid.
The standard is a living document. It will get stricter over time, never looser.
Real food. Honestly made. Nothing hidden.
That is the only rule.