Terms of Service
These terms set out what you can expect from our service, & what we expect from you.
Effective: 4th April 2022
Archived versions
These are the terms on which we provide the ZOE personalised nutrition programme in the United Kingdom. Any purchase of that service is on these terms. Our service is also on sale in the United States under different terms, which are available here.
If you have a disability, you may access this page in an alternative format by contacting hello@joinzoe.com or www.joinzoe.com/dpo.
It should be obvious that our service to you will require us to process a lot of personal information about you. We have explained our approach to your personal information in more detail in our privacy notice.
Important: our service does not give medical advice or supply you with medical information. You should always talk to your doctor or other health-care professional about any health problems you may be suffering from. Please see our warning section if you have any concerns about your health.
Our service
Our service consists of testing (including results) and subsequent membership. At this time, the two are not available separately.
In more detail:
Testing:
We send you a test kit, which you use to collect biological samples (at the moment blood and poop) and then send them to our laboratory for testing using prepaid packaging we provide.
We provide access to our app to allow you to record information about your diet and health during the testing period and some specially formulated muffins which you will need to eat as part of the test.
Within about 6 weeks of receiving your samples, we will send you results of the testing period by email, together with information that you record about yourself and prepare personalised insights about you.
ZOE Membership:
You will continue to have access to our app, which will:
Give you access to nutritional information for different foods and recipes.
Allow you to continue logging your diet and health to enable you to sustain progress against your nutrition-related objectives.
You will have access, using chat, to our coaching team who will answer questions about diet and nutrition, but note that they do not provide medical advice.
Ordering the service
You place an order for the service when you press the “Place Order” button. When you order the service, you will be given a number of alternatives including how long each period of your membership may be (eg 4-months or 12-months) and the frequency with which you will be making payments.
We reserve the right to accept or reject orders for any reason. The price of the service is that indicated when you made your purchase (but see the fees section for information about price increases).
If we accept your order, we will send you an acceptance email, at which point a contract will exist between us under the terms set out on this page.
Once you have purchased the service, you will need to create an account and may be asked to complete an initial questionnaire to check your eligibility; start the collection of Information and arrange for us to send a test kit to you.
Eligibility
In order to use our service, you must meet the following eligibility criteria:
You are at least 18 years of age.
You are not pregnant.
You have not had a heart attack (myocardial infarction), stroke/transient ischemic attack, or major surgery in the last two months.
You have a body mass index (BMI) of at least 16.5 kg/m2.
Your shipping address is in the United Kingdom.
You can safely eat a gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian meal. (Meals may contain traces of these and other allergens, as they are prepared in a kitchen handling other ingredients).
If you are being treated for chronic medical conditions (including type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes), you have checked with your treating physician that this product is safe for you (note that to participate in the PREDICT 3 study which uses a continuous glucose monitor you must not been diagnosed with eating disorders, type 1 diabetes, or type 2 diabetes).
You may not use our service unless you meet these eligibility criteria.
Fees and charges
ZOE charges for Testing (with Results) and Membership.
There is a fixed fee for Testing and Results which you may make as a one-off payment when you place your order or by instalments, as you select when you purchase the service.
Payment for membership is by subscription, starting when your membership starts and then payable at the frequency described in your order for example: monthly or annually. In addition you may be given the option to pay a lump sum that will cover you for an initial period of membership, before the normal subscription payments start.
We may change the membership fee for a subsequent period of membership by giving you at least 30 days’ notice of that change.
Using the test kit
The test kit will include instructions on how to collect and ship your samples. At the moment, our tests consist of:
Response to blood fats (using dried blood spot samples)
Composition of your gut microbiome (using DNA extraction and sequencing techniques to identify living organisms in your poop sample)
If you have chosen to participate in the PREDICT 3 trial then your response to blood sugar will be done using a continuous glucose monitor
In order to ensure that we receive the highest-quality test data, you must:
Use the test kit and collect the samples in accordance with the instructions provided with the kit
Follow good hygiene practices when collecting the samples
Send your samples for testing within the timeframes we have indicated — if you delay too long, the test may become useless.
Consume the muffins provided in the test kit in accordance with ZOE’s instructions.
You must not:
Use any part of the test kit, including perishable foods, which is past its indicated expiry date.
Provide samples on behalf of anyone else.
Eurofins: blood test
We use Eurofins Biomnis to carry out the analysis of the blood test kit. They would usually supply the results of the test to a medical practitioner, maintaining medical confidentiality.
Obviously, in our case they send the analysis to us and we then include it in your results. This is the only way in which we can provide our service to you using the blood test kit and by sending it to Eurofins you consent to this arrangement. ZOE will keep any such results confidential.
Results
Results consist of a set of personalised “insights.” Insights are derived from analysis of the samples combined with the information you have reported about yourself using the app.
Insights are intended to help you make personalised nutritional and lifestyle choices. You may choose to follow these recommendations as little or as much as you wish, or you may choose not to follow these recommendations at all.
ZOE will provide the results to you via email. We aim to report results within around six weeks of receiving your samples, but there may be unexpected delays. While we will take all reasonable steps to try to meet this time limit, we cannot promise to do so.
If you have not followed the instructions for sample collection, a test may fail. There are other, rarer circumstances in which a test may fail even for correctly collected samples. We may deal with that by asking you supplementary questions to help us interpolate a test result or send you a replacement test kit if possible.
Biological Samples are processed on ZOE’s behalf in an irreversible manner and cannot be returned to you once sent to and processed by the laboratories.
Duration of Membership
Your membership will start when we share your test results with you. Your membership will continue indefinitely unless and until you or we cancel it. This means, you will be billed in advance for each period.
You may cancel at any time (by using the in-app chat or emailing hello@joinzoe.com), but we are under no obligation to give refunds for any unused period of your membership.
How we accept payment
We may collect payments from you directly or we may use a third-party payment processor (the “Payment Processor”) to bill you through a payment account linked to your Account on the Services (your “Billing Account”). At present we use Stripe as our Payment Processor.
The processing of payments by a Payment Processor will be subject to the terms, conditions and privacy policies of such Payment Processor in addition to this Agreement. We are not responsible for any errors by the Payment Processor. You authorise us, through the Payment Processor, to charge your chosen payment provider (your “Payment Method”). You agree to make payment using that selected Payment Method. We reserve the right to correct any errors or mistakes that we or the Payment Processor make even if we or the Payment Processor have already requested or received payment.
Payment method: The terms of your payment will be based on your Payment Method and may be determined by agreements between you and the financial institution, credit card issuer or other provider of your chosen Payment Method. If we, through the Payment Processor, do not receive payment from you, you agree to pay all amounts due on your Billing Account upon demand.
Up-to-date information: You must provide current, complete and accurate information for your Billing Account when you order the ZOE Service. You represent and warrant that you are authorised to use such a credit card or payment method. You must promptly update all information to keep your Billing Account current, complete and accurate (such as a change in billing address, credit card number, or credit card expiration date), and you must promptly notify us or our Payment Processor if your payment method is cancelled or if you become aware of a potential breach of security. If you would like us to change such information, please contact us through chat or email. If you fail to provide any such information, you agree that we may continue charging you for any unpaid fees under your Billing Account. You agree that we may pass your credit card information and related information about and identify you to our designated service providers for their use in charging you for the Service ordered by you. All charges are inclusive of VAT.
Returns and Refund Policy
Test Kits
Because test kits contain medical equipment and food, it would not be safe for us to accept returns. All test kit sales are therefore final and may not be cancelled unless your order has not yet been prepared. Preparation typically occurs within 24-48 hours after order completion, although it may happen sooner. Except where you cancel your order before we have prepared it, all fees are non-refundable.
If a test kit or any of its contents necessary for testing is damaged or defective when you received it, ZOE will, on request, ship a replacement test kit or the damaged item free of charge provided that you have not already submitted samples using the original test kit; the test kit has not expired and subject to the availability of a replacement test kit, unless the damage or defect was your fault (for example, because you gave an incorrect address). If we do not have a replacement test kit to ship to you when we would otherwise send you a replacement, we will instead refund your fees.
Membership
You may cancel your membership at any time. No refunds or credits will be given but you may continue to use the services included in your membership until the end of the period you have paid for.
In exceptional circumstances, for example if you submit an order but are then told by your physician that you should not participate, ZOE may, in its absolute discretion, refund some or all of the fees you have paid.
Any requests for a refund should be made to hello@joinzoe.com.
Free Access
Access to the ZOE app, for example for you to be able to read your results, is only offered while you are waiting for your results and during your membership. However, while it is developing its services, ZOE may permit you to continue to use the app or maintain your account after your membership expires. If ZOE does so, it does so without any commitment to you and it may terminate your access at any time.
Warnings
Possible Risks
Please be aware of the potential risks associated with using a service like ours. These include:
You may feel discomfort or unwell when collecting sample(s).
When collecting blood samples, most people will feel some discomfort from the lancet device used to collect blood from your fingertip but some may feel pain. The blood collection may also cause you to bleed; this will likely be minor and should stop with pressure. There is also a chance that you may faint or feel light-headed. In rare circumstances, the puncture site could become infected.
You may receive nutrition suggestions indicating foods or supplements to which you are allergic or sensitive. If you have a known or suspected allergy or sensitivity, you should not follow those suggestions.
A specific health or medical condition(s) you may have may not get better or may get worse and you may develop new conditions.
Some survey questions may make you or your family members uncomfortable.
You may learn information about yourself that prompts you to follow up with a healthcare professional. We cannot be responsible for what happens after that.
You may find out information about yourself that will cause you to worry or become anxious.
No Doctor-Patient relationship and not medical advice
The results provided by ZOE are for informational purposes only. ZOE is not a medical professional, and ZOE does not provide medical services or render medical advice. Nothing contained in the results should be construed as such advice or diagnosis. The information and reports generated by ZOE should not be interpreted as a substitute for consultation with a doctor, and the information made available on or through the Service should not be relied upon when making medical decisions, or to diagnose or treat a medical or health condition.
It should go without saying that there will not be a doctor-patient relationship between you and ZOE.
If you are being treated for an illness, are pregnant, have any food-related allergies, taking prescription medication or following a therapeutic diet to treat a disease, you should consult your doctor before using the ZOE Service. If any information you receive or obtain from using the Service that is inconsistent with the medical advice from your physician, you should follow the advice of your physician.
Coaching & Support Team
As part of the service, you may interact with our Coaching and Support team. They will assist you in completing the tests appropriately, help you understand the Results, and optionally assist you in optimising your nutrition-related objectives.
What they cannot do is provide medical, mental health or any other type of health service. The team does not conduct psychotherapy or mental health counselling. No diagnosis or treatment of, or advice regarding, any medical or mental health condition or illness will be offered. They are no substitute for, and are not an alternative to, medical, psychiatric, psychological, psychotherapy or other healthcare diagnosis and treatment when a medical or mental health condition or illness is present. You are advised to seek diagnosis, treatment and advice regarding medical or mental conditions or illnesses from physicians practising medicine, psychotherapists, psychologists and other licensed healthcare and mental health professionals.
Coaching is designed to provide Customers with education, information and individual support regarding nutrition-related issues, lifestyle and objectives. ZOE’s Customer Support Team may provide general information about issues related to nutrition and support Customers in achieving, maintaining and optimising nutrition-related objectives.
ZOE’s Customer Support Team are not allowed to engage in rendering any type of psychological or healthcare advice for any individual or their particular situation. Under no circumstances will any of your interactions with any ZOE Customer Support Team member in your use of the Service be deemed or construed to create a physician-patient relationship or a fiduciary duty of any kind whatsoever.
Food Database Disclaimer
As part of the Service, ZOE maintains a food database that contains nutritional information. This information is derived from a number of sources — some of them more reliable than others — but all of them outside our control. We therefore cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information in the food database.
We have attempted to give the information a score, representing our estimate of its reliability. We explain how this works in detail on a separate page. This represents our best guess as to the reliability of the information. We do not guarantee it will be right, and you should approach all such information with proper caution.
Your Account
In order to use our app — which is essential for obtaining results and for enjoying membership — you will need to create a ZOE account. Only you are permitted to use the account and you must not share your password with anyone else unless because of a disability or ill health you need someone else to access your account on your behalf.
You are responsible for any use made of your account.
You are also responsible for ensuring that the email address associated with your account is valid and capable of receiving email. We are entitled to assume that any email successfully sent to your email address has been received by you.
When you create a ZOE account (“Account”), you are required to provide certain Customer Information about yourself (e.g. name, email address, mailing address, password, and payment information) (collectively, “Customer Information”). You must provide accurate and complete Customer Information and update such information from time to time using your Account as necessary to keep your Customer Information current and accurate. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Customer Information and password and for restricting access to such information and to your computer or other electronic devices. All activities that occur under your Account or password will be your responsibility.
You agree to immediately notify ZOE of any unauthorised use of your password or Account or any other breach of security. You agree that ZOE will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section.
At registration and at various stages of using the Service, you will be prompted to accept these Terms and Privacy Policy indicating your affirmative acceptance of these legal documents.
Research
Our research
With your consent — which you will be offered at the time of signing up and which you may change at any time — ZOE conducts research into nutrition, health and wellness. For more information about the way in which ZOE uses data for research, please see our Privacy Policy:
Research studies
Based on the personal information you have provided us, if we identify you as a potential participant in research studies carried out either by ZOE, or by independent third parties, we may invite you to participate. Whether you participate in a research study is entirely up to you and will not affect your membership. Each study will be different and you will be given complete information about it if you are invited to participate.
Software
The app may from time to time automatically download and install updates from ZOE. These updates are generally designed to improve, enhance, and further develop the service and may take the form of bug fixes, enhanced functions or features, new modules, and completely new versions. You agree to receive such updates and permit ZOE to deliver these to you as part of your use of the service.
Unlawful and Prohibited Use Policy
As a condition for using the Service, you represent and agree not to engage in any of the following activities:
Non-personal use of the Service or the Materials;
Resale of the Service or Materials;
Distribution, public display or performance of any of the Materials;
Copying, modifying or creating derivative works of any part of the Service or the Materials;
Use of automated or similar means to download data from the Service, including without limitation crawlers, spiders, robots, or data mining tools;
The download or copying (other than browser page caching) of any part of the Service, or any part of the Materials, except as expressly permitted by ZOE;
Attempt to gain unauthorised access to ZOE’s servers or computer systems or to engage in any activity that disrupts, damages, disables, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, any part of the Service;
Collection or harvesting of any personal information including, but not limited to, company and individual names, domain names or account names, from the Service;
Using any part of the Service for unauthorised commercial solicitation purposes;
Use of any part of the Service as a destination linked from any unsolicited bulk messages or unsolicited commercial messages;
Impersonation, falsification of identity, or misrepresentation of your affiliation with any person or entity;
Use of the Service where Service use is not permitted;
Modify or disguise the origin of any content transmitted through the Service or Materials in a manner that leads to consumer confusion;
Use any content in the Service or Materials, or any promotional materials for the Service, for unauthorised advertising, or in connection with any offer to sell or buy any goods or service except as permitted by law;
Unauthorised use of branded trademarks, trade names, and key words associated with the Service or Materials in online media that amounts to false association and/or cause consumer confusion;
Engage in "framing," "mirroring," or otherwise simulating the appearance or function of ZOE or our Service or Materials;
Upload or transmit any content that you do not have a legal right to transmit (such as proprietary and confidential information, personal health information, content that infringes intellectual property rights of a third party, etc.);
Violate these Terms, or any code of conduct or other guidelines which may be applicable for a particular area of the Service or have been provided or shared with you in connection with the Service;
Use of the Service or Materials other than for their intended purpose; or
Intentional or unintentional violation of local, state, national, or international law, or any regulations having the force of law.
Termination
We may terminate this agreement without notice if:
You breach any term of this agreement
ZOE believes it is required to do so by law
But if we terminate this agreement for any reason that is not your fault, we will repay pro rata for any period of your membership that is left unused.
We may also terminate this agreement at the end of any period of your membership by giving you at least 30 days advance notice.
Any termination of this agreement:
Ends all rights and licences granted to you under these terms, including access to the ZOE app.
Does not affect any obligations under these terms that accrued prior to termination or any terms which by their nature should survive termination including, without limitation, terms related to intellectual property ownership and restrictions, disclaimers, the user content Licence, governing law and jurisdiction.
After termination, ZOE reserves the right to exercise whatever means it deems necessary to prevent your unauthorised use of the Service and also to delete any information associated with your account. Please refer to our Privacy Policy to understand how we treat information you provide to us after you have stopped using our Service.
User Content
Some features of our Service may include functionality enabling you to submit or post material to be viewed by other users of our Service, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, such as profiles, posts, emails, feedback, experiences, suggestions, notes, messages, food data, photos, and videos – all of which we refer to as “user content”. You are solely responsible for all user content.
ZOE, at its sole discretion, has the right (but not the obligation) to screen, reject, retain, or remove any user content, or any part of it. This could include redaction of that content. ZOE also reserves the right to disclose any user content as necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request. ZOE has no obligation to preserve user content and may, for example, delete all existing user content. If you wish to preserve user content, you should ensure that you make your own copy of it.
In using the service, you agree not to post any User Content that
is false, deceptive, deceitful, misleading, unauthorized, unlawful, libellous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, harmful to minors, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable;
would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offence, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;
may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party;
impersonates any person or entity or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
contains private or confidential information of any third party, including, without limitation, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers;
contains viruses, spyware, malware, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files;
may expose ZOE to any harm or liability of any type;
harasses, degrades, intimidates or is hateful toward an individual or group of individuals for any reason and especially on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age or disability; or
disrupts, damages, disables, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, any part of the Service.
By contributing user content, you grant ZOE and its affiliates a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, freely transferable and sub-licensable (through multiple tiers) non-exclusive right to use, reproduce, modify, transmit, translate, publish, publicly perform, display, distribute, commercialise, share with third parties, transmit or distribute over public network and media, and create derivative works of such user content in order to exercise any right or carry out any obligation under these terms, or for any other purpose in connection to the provision, promotion or development of our services.
You represent and warrant that:
you own and control all of the rights to the User Content that you post or you otherwise have the right to post such User Content and to grant the rights granted in these Terms;
the user content is accurate and not misleading;
distribution of the User Content you supply in accordance with your direction does not violate these Terms; and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity. You hereby waive any moral rights you may have in such User Content under the laws of any jurisdiction.
Intellectual Property
Trademarks
All ZOE trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, domain names, and any other features of the ZOE brand are the sole property of ZOE, ZOE’s Affiliates, or ZOE’s licensors. These Terms do not grant you any rights to use any ZOE trademarks or brand features whether for commercial or non-commercial use. Unless you have specifically agreed otherwise in writing with ZOE, nothing in these Terms or Service gives you a right to use any ZOE marks and you agree not to display or use ZOE marks in any manner.
You may not remove, obscure, or alter any proprietary rights, marks, or notices that may be affixed to or contained in the Service.
Software
The Service, and all designs, text, graphics, pictures, images, content, videos, information, data, and software contained in or comprising the Service (including ZOE’s Website and Apps), except for the user content as defined above, is the property of ZOE, ZOE’s Affiliates or ZOE’s licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark laws, patent, and other intellectual property laws in applicable jurisdictions.
Your rights in any ZOE software you use (including the ZOE Website and Apps) (“Software”) that is not accompanied by a separate licence agreement are governed by and subjected to the licence granted in these Terms. You may not copy, modify, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, reverse assemble, or otherwise attempt to discover any source code, sell, assign, sublicense, grant a security interest in, or otherwise transfer any right in the Software unless otherwise specifically agreed in writing between you and ZOE. You agree not to modify the Software in any manner or form, or to use modified versions of the Software, including without limitation for the purpose of obtaining unauthorised access to the Service. You agree not to access the Service by any means other than through the interface that is provided by ZOE for use in accessing the Service. Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.
Licence to Use
Subject to your compliance with these Terms, ZOE grants you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable licence to make personal, non-commercial use of the Service and the Materials. This licence shall remain in effect until and unless terminated by you or ZOE. You agree to use the Service for your own personal, non-commercial use and will not redistribute or transfer the Service or any of the Materials.
Food database
Information in the Food Database may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, modified, sold, resold, distributed, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without the express written consent of ZOE.
Miscellaneous
Contacting each other
Where these terms require you to contact us (for example, where they require you to give us “notice”), you must do so by email to hello@joinzoe.com.
We may give you notice by sending an email to the address registered to your account. You are responsible for ensuring that you are able to receive and check emails at that address.
Changing these terms
We may change these terms by giving you at least 30 days warning (in the app or by email) and publishing the new terms on our website for you to consider. For terms which do not negatively affect your existing use of our services, for example where we are simply introducing a new feature or service and defining the terms on which it may be used, the new terms will take effect after 30 days. Otherwise, the new terms will not take effect until the next renewal of your membership, meaning you can terminate your membership if you do not want to continue.
Governing Law
This agreement shall be governed by English law and the courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute arising out of it.
Assignment
You may not assign, delegate or transfer these Terms or your rights or obligations hereunder, or your Service Account, in any way (by operation of law or otherwise) without ZOE's prior written consent. ZOE may transfer, assign, or delegate these Terms and its rights and obligations without consent.
Failure to enforce
Any failure by ZOE to enforce its rights on one occasion does not mean it may not enforce other rights, or the same rights on other occasions.
Circumstances beyond our control
ZOE is not responsible for any failure to perform any of its obligations under this agreement if they are caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control.
About us
We are Zoe Limited, established at 164 Westminster Bridge Road, London, England, SE1 7RW. Our email address is hello@joinzoe.com. Our VAT number is GB276647362.
