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With dozens of food scanning apps available, finding the right one for your needs can be overwhelming. Whether you want to track calories, check for harmful additives, monitor allergens, or simply eat healthier, there's an app for you.
We've tested the most popular food scanner apps available in the UK to help you decide. Each app has different strengths — here's our breakdown.
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | NHS Food Scanner | NutraSafe | Yuka | MyFitnessPal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free / £2.99/mo | Free / £14.99/yr | Free / £15.99/mo |
| Barcode Scanner | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| E-Number/Additive Info | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Calorie Tracking | Basic | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Allergen Alerts | Basic | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Food Diary | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Reaction Tracking | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Apple Health Sync | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| UK Product Focus | ✓ | ✓ | Partial | Partial |
| Intermittent Fasting | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
NHS Food Scanner
By Public Health England
The official NHS app uses the familiar traffic-light system (red, amber, green) to show sugar, salt, saturated fat, and calorie content at a glance. It's designed to help families make healthier choices quickly in the supermarket.
Strengths: Completely free, government-backed, simple to use, great for quick decisions with children. The "Good Choice" and "Not So Good" badges make healthy eating accessible.
Limitations: Doesn't track your meals over time, no food diary, limited additive information, and no allergen personalisation.
NutraSafe
By Aaron Keen
NutraSafe combines barcode scanning with comprehensive food tracking. Scan products to see E-numbers, additives, allergens, and nutrition — then log meals to track patterns over time. Unique features include reaction tracking to identify food sensitivities and an integrated fasting timer.
Strengths: UK-focused database, detailed additive analysis with safety ratings, food reaction diary to spot patterns, Apple Health integration, intermittent fasting timer, expiry date tracking, and A+ to F nutrition grades.
Limitations: Newer app with growing database, iOS only (no Android yet).
Yuka
By Yuka
Yuka is one of the most popular food scanning apps globally with over 50 million users. It gives products a score out of 100 based on nutritional quality, additives, and organic status. Also scans cosmetics and personal care products.
Strengths: Huge product database, simple scoring system, scans cosmetics too, suggests healthier alternatives, independent (no brand influence).
Limitations: No food diary or meal tracking, international focus (some UK products missing), no Apple Health integration, premium required for unlimited scans.
MyFitnessPal
By Under Armour
The most popular calorie counting app worldwide. MyFitnessPal has an enormous database of foods and recipes, making it easy to log everything you eat. Integrates with fitness trackers and gym equipment.
Strengths: Massive food database (14M+ foods), excellent for weight loss goals, syncs with fitness devices, recipe calculator, strong community features.
Limitations: User-submitted data can be inaccurate, no additive/E-number info, premium is expensive, ads on free tier, focused on calories rather than food quality.
Cronometer
By Cronometer Software
Cronometer is the gold standard for accurate micronutrient tracking. Unlike MyFitnessPal, it uses verified nutrition data rather than user submissions. Excellent for tracking vitamins, minerals, and hitting specific health targets.
Strengths: Most accurate nutrition data, tracks 80+ micronutrients, great for keto/special diets, verified database, excellent for health optimisation.
Limitations: Smaller food database than MyFitnessPal, steeper learning curve, less social features, not UK-specific.
Which App Should You Choose?
Our Recommendations
- For families wanting quick healthy choices: NHS Food Scanner — free, simple, trusted
- For tracking additives, reactions, and complete nutrition: NutraSafe — UK-focused with unique reaction tracking
- For product ratings and cosmetics: Yuka — huge database, simple scoring
- For serious calorie counting and weight loss: MyFitnessPal — biggest database, fitness integration
- For accurate micronutrient tracking: Cronometer — verified data, 80+ nutrients
Many people use multiple apps for different purposes. You might use NHS Food Scanner for quick supermarket decisions, NutraSafe for tracking additives and reactions, and MyFitnessPal for calorie goals.
The best app is the one you'll actually use consistently. Try a few and see which interface and features work best for your lifestyle.