FoodEssentials Scanner

FoodEssentials Scanner is the best app that I’ve seen for those suffering from food allergies and intolerances. It allows you to scan the barcode of a food product and it will then display all sorts of information about the food. You get your nutrient information (calories, fats, sodium, etc.) but you also get information about allergens and additives. The app will pull up the possible allergens and flag them as not listed, possible and listed. You can tap on the allergen and find out exactly what ingredient is the culprit. The same is true for the additive list. There’s no need to scan the label on your food and then search for the five syllable ingredient or additive on your own. The app does it for you. If you’d rather not use the barcode you can also search by product name. The same label information will be displayed.

When FoodEssentials finds your food it also pulls up products in the same category. I asked the developer how they choose these products and as of right now they’re pulled up in no particular order. They’re working on enabling sorting of these screens so you can see the most popular products first. That will be a nice improvement. You can flick between these screens to compare what’s in each one and this will be very useful when you can narrow the screens down to foods that are really similar. You can also scan in similar products and then shake your phone. Now all the similar products that you’ve scanned will show up on screens that you can access with that sideways swipe. This is a great way to compare what’s in different breads, cereals, ice creams, you get the idea. The app also saves everything you’ve scanned or searched for in a list.

Now here’s the part that I thought was pretty darn fantastic about this app. You have the ability to customize what you see on the labels it pulls up. You can go through each section – nutrients, allergens, additives – and turn on/off what you’d like to see. For example in my house we’ve got some dairy issues and I’d absolutely make sure that was turned on to show up. But we never eat fish and I don’t need to see that allergy so I turned it off. I think it’s terrific that you can expand (or condense) the list of what you see.

According to the FoodEssentials website a big update is coming around March 29th. They’ll be doubling the list of products and will soon be adding additional allergies.  The update should also give you the ability to select an ingredient (from more than 30,000) and make it a custom ingredient that will show up on your labels. I’ve been told that the success rate (accuracy) of the scanning is going to jump with the next update which will be fantastic.

I have a few reasons that this app is going to be a big help for me. First for my baby. I’ve mentioned before that we’ve been dealing with acid reflux and food intolerances pretty much since the day she was born. We’ve got the acid issues handled but the reflux is still out of control some days.  We’ve begun venturing into the world of baby foods but it’s slow going and we’re still on elemental formula and cereal plus a limited number of other foods. We try a new food and then cross our fingers that it’s not going to end up on the intolerant list. She usually lets us know it’s a no go when she has a big reflux flair up the next day. I’m hoping (really hoping!) that the day is coming where we can begin to try regular baby cereal and some other things. But realistically I know we’ll be dealing with her food issues for some time to come. FoodEssentials is going to be a huge help when I get the G.I’s green light to start introducing “normal” food. Especially when the new allergies and ingredients are added to the app. I’ll be able to find out (while I’m in the store) if something is safe for her or not. My second reason is personal. I’m one of those lucky (oh so lucky!) people who get migraines. It seems like I’m constantly learning about my triggers but I know with certainty that several additives/ingredients are guaranteed to make my head explode. I would love to see some sort of migraine trigger list incorporated into the app. At the very least I am hoping that MSG and aspartame make the 30,000+ ingredient list.

Sorry for the lengthy diatribe, I probably just shared much more than you’d want to know about my family’s issues. Especially all that talk about baby spit up. Right now FoodEssentials costs $4.99 and that covers a one year subscription to the app. Personally, I think the ease of use and the straightforward way the information is presented would make the price worth it for me. The updates that I’m hearing about are really going to set this app apart and I’m excited to see where it goes next.

*I really only touched on the allergy prevention potential of the app. If you’re concerned about cholesterol, saturated fat, etc. then there’s plenty of information here for you too.

*Another note – I’ve received word that the developers monitor the searches that return no results and then work on including those foods. For me those empty searches were for some store brand products. It’s good to know that these empty searches are monitored.

Price when Reviewed: $4.99

Seller: Food Essentials

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.