The standard has to come from somewhere.
Marketing is not a standard. "Natural" means nothing. "Clean" means nothing. We built the standard that should have existed years ago.
Most people want to live healthier. The problem is not motivation, it is information. ROOTED cuts through that noise. We research every category deeply. We publish our standards publicly. We rate products against those standards and name every compromise we find.
Standards come first. Products come second.
The two of us
Jack Basseer
Co-founder. Former Division I baseball player. ROOTED started with his own search for what was actually in the things he ate, wore and cooked with. [Two sentences in Jack's words.]
Spencer Day
Co-founder. [Two sentences in Spencer's words.]
Our 10 Principles
- 01TransparencyWe do not publish a claim we cannot substantiate. Listing a place is not a claim about it.
- 02SimplicityIf it requires a PhD to follow, it fails our standard.
- 03Evidence-BasedScience first. Traditional wisdom considered. Anecdote never relied upon.
- 04PracticalityThe best choice is one people will actually use.
- 05Long-Term HealthWe optimize for 20-year outcomes, not 20-day results.
- 06No Fear MarketingWe use information. Not fear.
- 07Independent Ratings
- 08Natural When PracticalPreferred, not worshipped.
- 09Minimal ExposureWhen two options are equal, choose fewer chemical inputs.
- 10Always EvolvingStandards are living documents. We update when evidence does.
How a product gets rated
Tier 1, Rooted Approved. The product meets the published standard for its shelf and carries no compromise we consider meaningful. Anything the brand left undisclosed is listed on the entry as a gap, so a Tier 1 product can still have blanks on its page. It means we found nothing wrong, not that we know everything. Certifications shown are the ones the brand holds; none is required for Tier 1.
Tier 2, Good Option. The product meets most of the standard and carries one or two compromises. Each one is named on the entry in plain words. If you open a Tier 2 product and cannot find the compromise, that is a mistake on our side and we want to hear about it.
Tier 3, Budget/Transitional. The product carries one specific compromise that we name. It is here either because it is the mainstream default with its tradeoff made visible, or because it is a cheaper option that is still decent. Tier 3 is not a bargain bin, and some Tier 3 products cost more than Tier 1 products on the same shelf.
What a tier is not. It is not a safety rating and it is not a health claim.
Members Only
This is part of ROOTED Membership.
Members get the ROOTED Assistant.
Everything else, all 850 ratings, the full map, every standard, is free.
- AI answersComparisons and buying guidance, not just single-product lookups, ask about any product or ingredient and get an answer from the standard.
- A monthly allowance400 Assistant answers a month. A question that needs a deeper look counts as five, and there are up to twenty of those, so a heavy month lands around 320. Product and map lookups do not count against it. Your allowance resets once a month. The Assistant shows your reset date when you reach it.
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