The Loot Standard
V.1 · 2026. Every ingredient excluded, named. Every sourcing minimum stated. The methodology and reasoning behind every decision, in writing.
A note on V.1. The Loot Standard is published as of June 2026. Since opening in January, we have refined our sourcing as our understanding has deepened — some products that were on our shelves in earlier months would not meet the Standard as it is written today. Over the coming months, every product on the shelf will be formally re-reviewed against V.1 through a written founder questionnaire. Products that do not meet V.1 will be delisted. Products that do will earn the Loot Key.
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:
Real food, honestly made, with nothing hidden.
That is the entire standard. Everything below is how we apply it.
What We Exclude
Each excluded category is named below, with the specific ingredients we will not carry and the reasoning behind the exclusion.
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. No allulose (industrially produced from corn-derived fructose). No isolated stevia or monk fruit extracts. Real sweeteners only: raw honey, maple syrup, dates, organic cane sugar, coconut sugar, molasses.
Real sweeteners have nourished people for millennia. Industrial substitutes behave differently in the body, taste differently on the palate, and obscure the actual sweetness of the food they are added to.
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. Real oils only — extra virgin olive oil, cold-pressed avocado oil, virgin or expeller-pressed coconut oil (no RBD refining), cold-pressed nut and seed oils, traditional animal fats.
These oils require chemical solvents and high-heat industrial refining to produce. Traditional fats are mechanically pressed or rendered from whole foods. The processing is the difference.
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, and real cold-pressed citrus oils only.
The phrase "natural flavor" sounds like it means something specific. It does not. The FDA permits manufacturers to combine as many as a hundred laboratory-engineered compounds under that single ingredient line. "Nothing hidden" forbids it.
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 food does not need them. A vinaigrette emulsifies with mustard or egg yolk. A sauce thickens through cream and butter, slowly whisked in. Gums and modified starches are shortcuts that obscure what a product actually is.
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, cultured wheat, cultured sugar, cultured celery juice, or cultured corn syrup used as preservatives.
Traditional preservation — salt, vinegar, fermentation, dehydration, refrigeration — has worked for thousands of years. Synthetic preservatives extend shelf life past what real food allows. The Loot shelf accepts the shorter shelf life.
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.
Color in real food comes from real ingredients. Synthetic dyes are added for marketing, not for nutrition or craft. Many are banned in other countries. The Loot shelf does without.
Industrial protein isolates
No hydrolyzed proteins of any kind. No soy, pea, whey, or rice protein isolates processed with chemical solvents. No texturized vegetable protein. No yeast extract, autolyzed yeast extract, monosodium glutamate (MSG), disodium inosinate, or disodium guanylate. No "natural beef flavor" or other hidden glutamates.
These are extracted from beans, peas, and dairy using chemical solvents at industrial scale. The resulting powder is not the same as eating the food it came from.
Synthetic fortification
No synthetic vitamins or minerals added as fortification — including ascorbic acid, folic acid, cyanocobalamin, pyridoxine HCl, thiamine mononitrate, and ferrous sulfate. Real nutrients from real food only.
Real nutrients come bound in real food, in the forms and ratios the body recognizes. Synthetic additions are not the same compounds, and they are typically added to compensate for what processing removed.
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.
These are the V.1 sourcing minimums. A product can be otherwise clean, but if the animals are subject to growth hormones or industrial confinement, or if the almonds are sterilized with propylene oxide, the Loot shelf does not carry it.
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
The standard accepts the real ingredients human beings have eaten for centuries — raw honey, maple syrup, cold-pressed olive oil, virgin or expeller-pressed coconut oil, mineral salts, real vinegars, real cream, real egg yolks, whole spices, fresh citrus, native starches as traditional thickeners, and traditional preservation through salt, vinegar, sugar, fermentation, dehydration, smoking with real wood.
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 sourced and vetted against the principles of the Standard. As V.1 publishes, every product is being formally re-reviewed through the founder questionnaire process. Products that meet V.1 earn the Loot Key. Products that do not are delisted. No product is on the shelf because it sells. We source directly from each brand. 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. When a product is reformulated and an excluded ingredient is introduced, 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 — 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.
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 Standard is a living document. Its principles never soften — specific rules sharpen and refine as our understanding deepens.
V.1 · 2026 · Published by Loot Grocery · West Palm Beach, Florida