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Standards

Editorial Policy

TL;DR

Nutrogine is written and edited by Alec Zakhary (PM, founder, not a registered dietitian or clinician). Every numeric claim is tied to a primary source via Source Badges. We use AI for drafting and copy editing, never for source verification or framing. We don't run ads, take affiliate revenue, or accept paid placements. We disclose every conflict of interest in the relevant piece. We correct mistakes within 7 days of being notified and date-stamp every page so you can see how stale the data is.

1. Scope

This policy covers all editorial content published on https://nutrogine.com — blog posts, comparison pages, dish analyses, meal plans, and the methodology pages themselves. It does not cover user-generated content (we don't have any yet), comments (none), or external syndication (we license nothing in or out).

2. Editorial team

Currently: one person.

  • Author, editor, fact-checker: Alec Zakhary. Product manager, founder of Nutrogine. Background: a decade of consumer-software PM, six months deep in restaurant nutrition data. Not a registered dietitian, not a clinician, not a sports-nutrition certified practitioner. Nothing on this site is medical advice.
  • External experts: we will quote registered dietitians, food scientists, and academic researchers when their published work or direct interviews are cited. We do not pay for quotes. We disclose every relationship.

3. Editorial standards

Every published article must satisfy all of the following:

  1. Source-first. Every number, claim, and statistic carries a primary-source citation, displayed as a Source Badge or inline link. See the Source Citation Policy for the precedence rules.
  2. Information gain. The piece must contain at least one element not present in the top-3 SERP results for the target query — original synthesis, fresh aggregation, primary research, or a clearly-labelled new framing.
  3. Plain English. Jargon is allowed only when defined on first use. Reading-level target: grade 9.
  4. No clickbait. Title must accurately summarise the content. We do not use sensationalised numbers, fear framing, or fake urgency.
  5. Limitations stated. Where data is uncertain (small sample size, single source, indirect estimate), the piece says so.

4. Use of AI assistance

We use large language models (currently Claude, by Anthropic) for:

  • Drafting, structural editing, and copy editing of long-form prose
  • Reformatting numerical data between units and presentations
  • Identifying gaps in coverage or unsupported claims
  • Suggesting headlines and meta descriptions for A/B testing

We do not use AI for:

  • Generating source citations. Every primary-source URL is found, read, and verified by a human (Alec) before it lands in a piece.
  • Choosing what to write. Topic selection, framing decisions, and editorial angles are human judgement calls.
  • Replacing primary research. Where the piece claims to aggregate customer reports or compare app behaviour, that legwork is done by a human reading the underlying material.
  • Writing as a credentialed expert. AI never writes content positioned as authored by a registered dietitian or clinician — because we don't employ any.

This disclosure is intentional. Per Google's AI-content guidance (2023, restated 2026) , AI assistance does not violate quality standards if the final piece is human-edited, fact-verified, and adds genuine value. We meet all three.

5. Pre-publication review

Every piece passes the following checklist before going live:

  1. Every number traces to a primary source linked in the piece
  2. Source Badges applied per the Source Citation Policy
  3. External claims about apps, brands, or people are checked against the most recent first-party source
  4. Author byline and "Last updated" date set
  5. JSON-LD schema validates without errors (Schema.org Validator + Google Rich Results Test)
  6. Internal links resolve; no broken external links at publish time

6. Corrections policy

We will get things wrong. When that happens:

  • Report it: email [email protected] or DM @AlecZakhary on Twitter.
  • Acknowledgement: we reply within 48 hours.
  • Correction window: verifiable factual errors are corrected within 7 days.
  • Public notation: material corrections (any change that meaningfully alters the conclusion) are dated and noted at the bottom of the affected piece. Trivial corrections (typos, broken links) are silent.
  • Stale data: any piece older than 6 months without a fresh review is flagged. If you find a discrepancy in a piece that's older than 6 months and we haven't updated, it is almost certainly stale — please tell us.

7. Conflicts of interest

Disclosed in full:

  • Nutrogine is a competing product. Alec is building a restaurant-aware calorie tracker (shipping Q3 2026). Coverage of MyFitnessPal, Cal AI, SnapCalorie, Cronometer, MacroFactor, and similar apps is therefore by a competitor. We disclose this relationship in every piece that compares Nutrogine to those apps.
  • No equity, no advisory positions. Alec holds no equity, options, or paid advisory roles in any nutrition app, restaurant chain, food brand, or supplement company covered on this site.
  • No affiliate revenue. No outbound link on this site is monetised via affiliate programmes. App-comparison verdicts are not influenced by referral commissions.
  • No paid placements. Brands, apps, and restaurants covered cannot purchase favourable coverage, removal of unfavourable coverage, or guaranteed mention. We do not run sponsored content.
  • Free trials and review copies: when we test a paid app, we pay for it ourselves at the going subscription rate. If a vendor offers a free review account, we disclose it.

8. Independence statement

Nutrogine is privately owned by Alec Zakhary. We have no investors, no board, no parent company, and no editorial direction from any third party. The site is funded out of pocket pre-launch and will be funded by direct subscriptions to the upcoming app — not by advertising. Our incentive is to be reliably correct, because the only thing we sell is research credibility.

9. Reader rights

  • You can email us with questions, corrections, or coverage requests.
  • You can quote our writing with attribution and a link back.
  • You can reproduce our charts and tables with attribution; please don't pass our research synthesis off as your own.
  • If you spot a conflict-of-interest disclosure we missed, tell us — we will add it.

10. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy as the editorial team grows, as the product launches, or as relevant external standards change (Google, FTC, FDA, or industry guidance). Material changes are dated; the "Effective" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent substantive revision.

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