Methodology
The political involvement indicator
The indicator answers one question: is the company that makes this product investing substantial money to influence federal or state policy? Its political spending since 2024 is added up from public sources: corporate PAC spending (FEC), federal lobbying (Senate filings), money from the company treasury to Super PACs and other independent-expenditure committees (FEC), and state-level giving to candidates, parties and PACs.
- High: $100,000 or more in total, or $1,000 or more given to Super PACs on its own.
- Moderate: $10,000 up to $100,000.
- Low: under $10,000, or nothing found in the sources checked.
It is a how-much measure, not a judgement. Low can mean an absence of findings rather than a confirmed clean record: trade-association dues and money routed through non-disclosing groups are invisible to every public source. The party split comes from each PAC's itemized contributions; money to a candidate's committee counts for that candidate's party, and leadership and caucus PACs count as Other.
The safety rating
Built from two things: whether any listed ingredient appears on a published watch-list of regulated additives and chemicals, weighted by how much of it is in the product and how it is classified, and whether the specific product, product line or (for vehicles) VIN has an open recall. An unflagged product means nothing in ChooseWell's current sources raised a concern, not a guarantee of safety.
The nutrition rating
Compares a product's own nutrition facts against the thresholds you set yourself in Preferences. There is no single fixed standard applied to everyone. Whole produce is rated good: its sugar is natural, not added.
"Notable actions"
For some companies, a short factual summary of a documented public action is shown, with a link to the underlying public record: a lawsuit against a state, an investment pulled over a law. These are summaries of existing public information, shown as context, and they never change the indicator.
Brand, parent company and individual donors
ChooseWell distinguishes a product's brand from the parent company that owns it (using SEC EDGAR, SAM.gov and Wikidata), and shows funding tied to that company's PACs and affiliated committees, not personal political contributions by ordinary employees.
Is ChooseWell politically neutral?
Yes. ChooseWell does not endorse any party, candidate or cause. Every political data point is a public record, shown with its source, so you can draw your own conclusions.
Reporting incorrect information
If something looks wrong, email hello@getshopperassist.com with the product or candidate name and what looks off. Corrections are checked against the original public source.