Scanning Lidl food
with NutraSafe: a quick guide.
Lidl runs on a tight own-brand range: Deluxe at the top, Vemondo for plant-based, Pilos for dairy, plus the weekly Themed Week lines that arrive on a Thursday and disappear by the next. We read the barcodes; here's what shows up.
Point.
Read. Log.
Lidl tills are famously fast. The only window to look at a pack is in your trolley. Two taps and the ingredient list, additives and nutrition panel are on your phone.
Open NutraSafe, tap Scan
Camera opens. Point at the EAN-13 barcode on the back of the pack. We fetch the food data, surface the ingredient list, calories, macros and additives.
The flag is the bit to read
Every additive we recognise is named in plain English; flagged concerns carry the source on the line. Free users see the flag. Pro users see the full detail (regulator, year, dose context).
Tap Log to add to your day
Calories, macros and salt add to your day against UK NRV. Pro adds vitamins and minerals updating in real time. Free covers 25 food logs a day.
If a Themed Week code misses
Mittel-deal items and Themed Week lines (German Week, Italian Week, Spanish Week) sometimes arrive faster than the databases. Tap Add manually, type the four numbers from the back: kcal, protein, carbs, fat. Forty-five seconds and you're done.
One supermarket,
a dozen sub-brands.
Lidl own-brand runs about 85 percent of the shop. Knowing which sub-brand you're holding tells you a lot before you even scan.
Deluxe
The premium tier. Dry-cured meats, sourdoughs, single-estate oils, fish counter ranges like Deluxe Scottish smoked salmon. Ingredient lists tend to be shorter, additive-light.
Vemondo (plant-based)
Plant milks, yoghurts, ready meals. Useful range; emulsifiers (E471, E472e) and thickeners (E407, E412) show up in the more processed lines. The scan tells you which.
Pilos (dairy)
Yoghurts, Greek-style cheese, Skyr. The plain pots are clean. Flavoured Pilos drinks sometimes carry artificial sweeteners and colourings; the scan picks them out.
Crownfield, Milbona, Snaktastic
Crownfield is cereals. Milbona is dairy basics. Snaktastic is crisps and party food. The breakfast cereals often add iron and vitamins; we surface the NRV percent per serving.
What a Lidl
scan tends to surface.
We don't grade Lidl. We list what's there. Below: additives the scanner sees most often on Lidl packs.
E250 sodium nitrite
Used to cure ham, bacon and chorizo. Eating cured meat regularly is linked to bowel cancer. NHS caps processed meat at 70g a day. IARC Group 1, Monograph 114 (2018).
Southampton Six colours
E102, E104, E110, E122, E124, E129. UK products containing any of them must carry "May have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children." Occasionally on Themed Week confectionery.
E951 aspartame
The sweetener in many Saskia diet drinks and sugar-free cordials. IARC reclassified it Group 2B (possibly carcinogenic) in July 2023. EFSA Acceptable Daily Intake stayed at 40mg/kg of body weight.
E471 mono- and diglycerides
A common emulsifier in own-brand bread, spreads and biscuits. We surface it so you know the long ingredient line is there if you're trying to keep the shop closer to whole foods.
One pack of
Deluxe chorizo.
Deluxe Spanish-style cooking chorizo, 200g, common Saturday basket pickup. Here's the scan.
From the panel on the back of the pack. Logs to your day.
Sodium nitrite. Cured-meat preservative. Linked to bowel cancer with regular intake.
None in the ingredients we have. We don't say "none in the product". Cross-contact lives on the pack.
Counts against your day's salt total. A 50g portion is roughly 23 percent of the NHS adult daily max.
Frequently
asked.
Real questions from Lidl shoppers using the app.
Yes. Lidl own-brand ranges (Deluxe, Vemondo, Pilos, Crownfield, Milbona, Simply, Newgate, Snaktastic and the rest) use standard EAN-13 codes. If a UK barcode is in our food databases, the scanner reads it. Newly listed lines or short-run weekly deal items occasionally miss; tap Add manually and four fields from the back of the pack cover it.
Full ingredient list, nutrition panel, calories and macros against your day, a flag on every additive we recognise. Pro users see the additive in detail. Big 14 UK allergens are spotted in the ingredient list. Vitamins and minerals on Pro track against UK NRV.
The download is free. The free tier covers 25 food logs a day, the barcode scanner with the additive flag, the reaction log up to 5 entries, and the E-number library on this website. Pro is £3.99 a month or £34.99 a year and lifts the caps, adds the AI Coach, workouts and fasting.
The middle aisle (Mittelgang) is mostly non-food. Food Themed Week lines (German Week, Italian Week, Spanish Week) often arrive faster than the databases. If a code comes back empty, the manual add takes four numbers and you're done.
Cured meats (Deluxe chorizo, sliced ham, salami) often carry sodium nitrite (E250). Some confectionery still uses Southampton Six colours that require the mandatory UK hyperactivity warning. Sweetened Saskia drinks and diet ranges often contain aspartame (E951) or acesulfame K (E950).
Try it on your next
Lidl shop.
Scan a Deluxe chorizo or a Vemondo oat drink and we read the barcode, list the additives in plain English and add the calories to your day. Free download. Pro £3.99 a month or £34.99 a year for AI Coach, workouts and fasting.
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