welcome to ispy
Built by the AFK community, for the community.
We heard they were time poor.
We heard they were frustrated with greenwashing tactics.
We heard they were frustrated by forever changing ingredients.
We heard they wanted assistance to cut through the marketing tactics and spin.
We listened.
Making informed decisions and voting with their dollar.
Before this community work, it was a decade of work and deep diving.
For six years, our community went to supermarkets, took photos, submitted them for review each month.
Sharing the information to protect our kids together.
My aha moment
Before that it was a moment standing in a supermarket aisle, reading the back of a packet, and realising I had no idea what I was actually reading.
My job was to protect my kids!
I remember feeling betrayed and let down by our government.
I had placed all my trust in it to protect me and my kids.
It’s funny how automatically we place our trust in the companies and industries that feed us. We all do it.
We assume the rules are in place to protect us.
They are, to a certain extent.
But there is an awful lot that slips past the rules and straight into our food.
That was my first AHA moment.
Rooted in ancient wisdom
Your body is an ancient sensory system
Before labels. Before marketing. Before ultra-processed convenience, your body knew.
Your body is an ancient sensory system.
A truth detector, designed to recognise what nourishes it and what depletes it.
It whispers first.
Ignore it, and it speaks louder.
Not to punish you, to protect you.
symptoms
Some of the ways your body speaks to you:
Repeated headaches
Skin flares
Behaviour shifts
Mood swings
Poor sleep
Fatigue
These aren’t random.
Repeated signals are intelligence.
Modern food systems are engineered to
override that intelligence, with bright packaging,
persuasive claims and ultra-processed convenience.
We are disconnected from our bodies.
We are told our reactions are normal.
We are told that we are overthinking.
We are told, “that’s just how kids are”.
No….
We are overriding the signals…
And the signals get louder.
Your body spots the impact of additives before you do.
Trust the body, not the label
Somewhere along the way, we were taught to outsource our wisdom.
To trust the label over the body.
The marketing over the sensation.
The expert over our own lived experience.
We were told we were being ’emotional’, ‘overthinking’ or ‘too sensitive’.
What if that sensitivity was intelligence?
Your body registers chemical load before you consciously process an ingredient list.
Repeated signals are information, not overreaction.
The iSpy app helps you recognise symptoms alongside products, so patterns become visible before they become diagnoses.
our community
Food authority was never meant to sit with one isolated mother in a supermarket aisle, second-guessing herself.
For most of history, women shared food knowledge.
They observed patterns together.
They compared notes.
They trusted lived experience.
Modern systems fractured that.
We outsourced wisdom to institutions.
We were told our intuition was anxiety.
We were told our discernment was hysteria.
We were told our sensitivity was weakness.
Alone, parents doubt themselves.
Together, in community,
they trust and rebuild confidence.
The work
I spent countless hours in supermarkets reading labels. I trawled through research. I read everything I could get my hands on.
With a background in auditing and analytics, I became an expert on food labelling. Not because I wanted to. Because I had to, because there was nowhere else to turn.
I thought, no parent should have to do this alone.
A lot has changed since those early years.
I’ve watched, year after year, things have gotten worse, not better.
More ultra-processed food.
More complexity.
More labels designed to mislead.
More children with ADHD, anxiety, asthma, learning difficulties.
Symptoms being managed rather than investigated.
I couldn’t sit and watch anymore.
This information had to be shared with people that need it most.
That’s why iSpy exists.
What my research revealed
Not all bodies process food the same way. Safety isn’t one size fits all.
Of the 296 additives approved in Australia, over 25 have been banned in other countries or require health warnings elsewhere.
Additives are not tested in combination. Only individually. Yet they have a greater impact when they interact.
Acceptable daily intake levels are not set for children.
Young children ingest more chemicals per unit of body mass than adults.
The developing brain is far more susceptible to toxic agents than an adult brain.
The 5% labelling loophole: ingredients making up less than 5% of a product don’t even need to be declared.
Safety standards define what is allowed. They do not define what is ideal for your child.
Permitted doesn’t mean optimal.
iSpy ranks ingredients beyond compliance, through a vulnerability-first lens.
We bring clarity where systems generalise.
Food safety isn’t static.
Food safety should be continually reviewed.
Food safety should be continuously earned.
Regulation arrives after harm. Consumers can move before it.
Voting with your dollar isn’t activism.
It’s restoring feedback.
This is not rebellion. It is restoration.
The parents I built this for
I’ve done the hard yards so you don’t have to.
I know how overwhelming it feels at the beginning.
I know the guilt.
I know the frustration.
I know the isolation, when people around you think you’re overreacting.
You are not overreacting. You are paying attention.
Benefits of the app
Know what’s in your food, before it’s in your family.
Database of Australian products that are regularly reviewed.
Clear transparent product rankings
Manufacturers held to account when ingredients change.
Trusted by the community for our children and most vulnerable.
Healthier swaps provided when searching for products.
Developed by Frankie, an independent Australian expert in additives and advisor to the Anti Additive Association.
Transparent product composition at a glance
Built by the community,
for the community.
Together, we will protect our kids,
one label at a time..
Symptoms – join the dots between what you are feeling and eating.
Find products with ingredients banned for infants.
Your voice matters – report when you notice change in packaging or ingredients.