About the Packaged Food Scanner & Comparator
Point your camera at any grocery barcode — live scan or a snapped photo, right in the browser, no app install — and the product comes back decoded: its Nutri-Score letter, its NOVA ultra-processing class, every E-number translated into a common name, function, and plain-English note from our 150-additive explainer, plus allergens and a UK-style traffic-light nutrition table per 100 g.
It is built for the store aisle: the compare mode puts two products side by side with per-row winners and an honest verdict, which is exactly the granola-vs-granola decision front-of-pack marketing exists to blur. Data comes from Open Food Facts, the crowdsourced database of 3+ million products.
Camera frames are processed on your device and never uploaded — only the decoded barcode digits reach our server, which relays the database lookup and stores nothing about you.
Honesty notes: crowdsourced coverage is strongest for European and major-brand US products, missing scores show as “not computed” rather than guessed, and a flagged additive means “worth knowing about,” not “proven harmful” — the notes give the context.
Every product you scan is screened against this list — hits get a prominent banner. Load a preset or add specific E-numbers.
How to Use the Food Scanner
On a phone with a supported browser, tap Scan barcode and center the code in the frame — detection takes about a second and the product loads automatically. On browsers without live scanning (iPhone Safari, Firefox), tap Photo of barcode instead: your phone opens the camera, you snap the code, and it is decoded right on your device — the photo itself is never uploaded. Hold the phone straight-on with the barcode horizontal and filling most of the frame. And there is always the low-tech path: type the digits printed under the barcode, or just search by name. Read the two badges first (nutritional grade, processing class), then work the tabs: additives translated into English, and the per-100 g traffic lights. In the store, the killer feature is Compare mode: scan the two products you are holding and let the verdict do the arguing.
Nutri-Score Explained — the Algorithm Behind the Letter
Nutri-Score condenses a per-100 g calculation into one letter. A product earns negative points for energy density, sugars, saturated fat, and salt, and positive points for protein, fiber, and the share of fruit, vegetables, nuts, and legumes; the net lands on the A–E scale. Because it is per-100 g and category-blind, it excels at exactly one job — ranking similar products — and misleads when used across categories: olive oil cannot beat a diet soda on this math, which says nothing about which belongs in your kitchen. The 2024 algorithm revision tightened scoring for sugary drinks, salt, and red meat, so scores you remember from a few years ago may have shifted.
The NOVA Classification and the Ultra-Processed Debate
NOVA ignores nutrients entirely and asks a different question: how industrial is this food? Group 1 is unprocessed or minimally processed (frozen peas, plain yogurt), group 2 is culinary ingredients (oil, butter, sugar), group 3 is processed combinations of the two (canned beans, cheese, fresh bread), and group 4 — ultra-processed — means industrial formulations built from derivatives: protein isolates, modified starches, emulsifiers, colorants, flavorings. The research picture, honestly stated: large cohort studies consistently associate high group-4 intake with obesity, cardiovascular disease, and mortality, and a landmark NIH ward study found people spontaneously ate ~500 more calories per day on an ultra-processed diet — but which mechanism (softness, energy density, additives, speed of eating) does the damage is still genuinely unsettled.
Reading E-Numbers — Functions, Myths, and Genuine Flags
An E-number is just a European registration code, and the system covers the mundane (E300 is vitamin C, E330 is citric acid) alongside the genuinely debated. The additives tab sorts this out per product: each code gets its common name, its job (colorant, emulsifier, preservative…), and a one-line note. The flagged markers are reserved for additives with a real story — titanium dioxide (E171), which EFSA declared no longer safe in 2021; the six “Southampton” azo dyes that carry child-hyperactivity warning labels in the EU; nitrites in cured meat and their nitrosamine chemistry; and sweeteners with active research threads. A flag means “read the note,” not “poison” — the dose and the context are the whole conversation.
Traffic-Light Thresholds — and Why Per-100 g Beats Per-Serving
The nutrition tab uses the UK Food Standards Agency cutoffs: per 100 g, fat goes red above 17.5 g, saturated fat above 5 g, sugars above 22.5 g, and salt above 1.5 g (green below 3 g, 1.5 g, 5 g, and 0.3 g respectively). Per-100 g is the honest denominator because serving sizes are a marketing variable — a “150-calorie” cereal serving is 40 g nobody actually pours. Two caveats: dense healthy foods (nuts, cheese) light up red on fat while being reasonable foods, and drinks use stricter thresholds than this solid-food table — read lights as “where does this product run high,” not as a verdict.
Crowdsourced Data: Strengths and Gaps of Open Food Facts
Open Food Facts is the Wikipedia of groceries: 3+ million products photographed and transcribed by volunteers, machine-checked, and freely available — it is why this tool can exist without a licensing wall. The trade-offs are real, though. Coverage skews European; US store brands are patchy. Data freshness varies — a reformulated recipe may lag until someone rescans it. And computed scores need complete inputs: a product missing its nutrition photo shows “not computed” here rather than a guess. When you hit a missing product, the not-found message links to OFF’s contribution page — adding it takes two photos and helps the next shopper.
Watching what goes in the cart? Pair this with the Grocery Basket Inflation Calculator and the Calories Burned Calculator. Browse all Cooking & Kitchen tools for more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Nutri-Score and who is behind it?
Nutri-Score is a front-of-pack label developed by French public-health researchers and adopted across several European countries. It scores a product from A to E by balancing negative points for energy, sugars, saturated fat, and salt against positive points for fiber, protein, and fruit or vegetable content, per 100 grams.
What does NOVA group 4 mean?
NOVA classifies foods by processing level, not nutrients. Group 1 is unprocessed or minimally processed, group 4 is ultra-processed — industrial formulations with ingredients like emulsifiers, flavorings, and modified starches you would not use at home. Large cohort studies associate high group-4 intake with worse health outcomes, though causation is still being researched.
Are the flagged additives dangerous?
Flagged means worth knowing about, not proven harmful at food doses. Every permitted additive has passed safety review, but some — titanium dioxide, certain azo dyes, some sweeteners — carry updated EFSA opinions, intake limits, or labeling requirements. The notes explain each flag so you can decide with context, ideally alongside professional dietary advice.
Why is my product missing or missing its scores?
Open Food Facts is a crowdsourced database of over three million products, strongest for European and major-brand US items. Store brands and regional products may be absent or lack the nutrition data needed to compute scores. Missing scores show as not computed — the tool never guesses.
Is a Nutri-Score A product automatically healthy?
No — the score compares products within a category context and per 100 grams. Diet soda can score well while offering nothing nutritionally, and olive oil scores mid-range despite its evidence base. Use Nutri-Score to pick between similar products and NOVA to gauge processing, not as a complete diet verdict.
