The action: point your phone, read the additives
This is a page about doing the thing. You're standing in an aisle holding a pack — a cereal, a yogurt, a ready meal, a bottle of squash — and the back-of-pack ingredients line is ten lines long, half of it in chemistry. You want to know, in the time it takes to put it back or put it in the basket, what's actually in there. That is the moment we built the scanner for.
Open our app, tap the scanner, and point your phone at the barcode. About a second later you have three things: the full ingredients line in the order printed on the pack, every additive and E-number picked out as its own pill with a one-line plain-English note on what it does, and our per-product grade with the underlying signals tap-throughable. No verdict shouting at you, no single letter pretending to summarise the whole picture — just the readable version of what's already on the pack.
What you actually see when you scan
1. The full ingredients line, in pack order
Exactly as printed on the back. UK food law requires ingredients listed in descending order by weight, and we keep that order so you can see what dominates the recipe. A breakfast biscuit where modified starch and palm oil show up in the top three reads very differently from one where they're at the back.
2. Every additive picked out with its function
Each E-number gets its own pill — emulsifier, preservative, colouring, sweetener, thickener, antioxidant, flavour enhancer — and a one-line note on what published research says about regular intake. Where there's nothing robust to say we say nothing rather than reach for reassurance.
3. The grade, with the reasoning visible
One per-product grade based on the recipe and the nutrition panel together — additive count, sweeteners, emulsifiers, refined ingredients alongside sugar, salt and saturated fat. Tap through to see which signals contributed. We don't think a single letter is honest enough on its own, so the underlying data is one tap away.
4. What we deliberately don't tell you
We don't say a product is "safe" or "fine" or "approved". Regulatory approval is a regulatory category, not a biological verdict, and the evidence on plenty of additives keeps moving. If the science is unsettled, the additive sits on the screen with no note rather than a fake green tick.
5. One-tap diary log
Want to keep what you scanned? One tap drops it into your daily diary at the right meal slot. The free tier covers up to 25 entries a day and we don't paywall the scanner itself.
What this scanner does that a generic barcode app doesn't
A generic barcode scanner reads the EAN and gives you a name and a calorie count. We add the additive layer on top, with the specific research note attached to the specific E-number. Some examples of what that looks like in practice — and we're being honest that the notes vary in strength, because the underlying evidence varies in strength.
The Southampton Six colourings
Tartrazine (E102), quinoline yellow (E104), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), allura red (E129) and ponceau 4R (E124) carry the FSA warning text on a hit: "may have an effect on activity and attention in children". That label is a UK-specific regulatory requirement on pack — products containing any of the six must display it. The scanner picks them out and shows the same text the manufacturer is required to print.
Aspartame (E951)
The IARC classified aspartame as Group 2B — possibly carcinogenic to humans — in July 2023, while JECFA reaffirmed the existing acceptable daily intake. The scanner shows the IARC line with the qualifier most consumer copy drops: 2B is a hazard rating based on limited human evidence, not a dose verdict. We give you the finding and the qualifier; what to do with it is yours.
Vitamin C added as an antioxidant (E300)
Some E-numbers are nutrients the body uses. E300 is ascorbic acid — vitamin C — added to stop oxidation. We label it that way rather than letting it sit on the screen looking like a chemical you ought to fear. Not every E-number is a concern; we say so where it isn't, without using reassurance words.
Processed meat and nitrite preservatives (E249–E252)
Sodium nitrite (E250) and potassium nitrate (E252) are flagged on cured meats with the IARC Group 1 classification on processed meat itself: regular consumption is causally linked to bowel cancer. The NHS limit on processed meat is 70 g a day. We show both lines as text the manufacturer doesn't have to put on pack.
Where the evidence is thinner
Plenty of additives — most thickeners, gelling agents, acidity regulators — have no robust adverse-evidence base in the published literature. The scanner shows their function (thickener, gelling agent, acidity regulator) and stops there. No green tick, no reassurance, no scaremongering. If the science changes, the note changes. We don't carry water for manufacturers; the founder's stance is that what reads safe today may be flagged tomorrow.
For the full lookup database — every E-number, what it is, what it does, what published science says — see our E-number database at /e-numbers/. The scanner is the in-aisle tool; the database is the deeper read.
Coverage — any UK barcode, any GTIN/EAN
Honest framing: it's one global barcode database, not a per-retailer integration. If a UK pack has a GTIN/EAN — every supermarket pack, every branded product, every imported bottle — the scanner can read it. Coverage is broad across UK supermarkets and major brands. Lesser-known indie products and very recent launches sometimes aren't in the database yet. When a scan comes back without data, you can submit the pack from the app — name, brand, photo of the back of pack — and we add it. A real human reviews submissions; the typical turnaround is days, not weeks.
Manufacturers also reformulate without re-issuing the barcode, so there is always some lag between the pack you are holding and the data we hold. The app shows the date the entry was last verified, and a two-tap correction flow goes back to the same review queue.
If you have a serious allergy or are managing a medical diet, the back of pack is still the source of truth. Where allergens look absent in our data we say "isn't in the ingredients we have", never "this product is free from X". The scanner is a tracking and transparency tool; on anything life-critical, read the label.
What our scanner can NOT do
- It can't diagnose anything. If you have IBS, suspected food intolerances, allergies, a chronic condition, or you're pregnant or managing diabetes, this is not the place to get medical advice. Track what you eat, take the data to your GP or a registered dietitian.
- It can't tell you a food is safe. Regulatory approval is a regulatory category, not a biological verdict. Our additive copy describes what published research says — "linked to", "may disrupt", "regularly eating this is associated with" — and falls silent when the evidence is unsettled.
- It can't read loose produce. If there's no barcode — a market tomato, a deli ham, a bakery cob — use the AI meal scan on Pro instead. That's a camera-based estimate, not a barcode lookup.
- It can't replace reading the back of pack for serious allergies. The 14 UK-recognised allergens are exactly what we match against, but we report what's in the ingredients we hold, not what isn't in the product.
Free vs Pro — what £3.99/month adds
The barcode scan, the per-product grade, and the additive breakdown with plain-English notes are all free. The free tier covers up to 25 food log entries a day, 5 reaction entries, and unlimited use of the public E-number database at /e-numbers/. We don't claim the app is free — the download is free, the Pro tier is paid.
NutraSafe Pro is £3.99 a month, monthly only (no annual tier), iOS. Here's what it adds for an additive-focused user:
- Detailed processed-food and NRV insights. The per-product grade is free. The full insights view — additive load over the day, week and month, processing-marker breakdown, vitamin and mineral tracking against UK NRVs — is the Pro layer.
- Allergen warning detail. Beyond the simple "this contains" flag, see the exact ingredient sub-string that triggered the match and any may-contain trace warnings the manufacturer has declared.
- Suspected-triggers analysis. Cross-references your reaction log against everything you ate in the previous 24–48 hours and surfaces statistically suspicious ingredients, additives or food groups. Designed to give you something concrete to take to your GP — not a diagnosis.
- AI Coach. Has read everything you've scanned, knows your goals and reactions, can answer "why did I feel rough on Wednesday" with the food log to back it up.
- AI meal scan. No barcode on what you're eating? Take a photo of the plate and we estimate calories, macros and a rough additive profile.
- Fasting tools and full reaction-pattern history.
Frequently asked questions
Point your phone at any UK barcode and we surface the full ingredients line in pack order, every additive and E-number picked out with a one-line note on what it does, and our per-product grade. We don't stamp a single-letter verdict — the underlying signals are there to read.
The Southampton Six colourings (E102, E104, E110, E122, E124, E129) carry the FSA warning text on children's behaviour. Aspartame (E951) carries the IARC 2023 Group 2B classification with the qualifier that it's a hazard rating, not a dose verdict. E300 is flagged as ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Many additives have no robust adverse-evidence base and we say nothing rather than reach for reassurance.
Any UK barcode (GTIN/EAN) — it's one global barcode database, not a per-retailer integration. Coverage is broad across UK supermarkets and major brands. Some lesser-known indie products may not be in the database yet; you can submit them in the app and we add them on request.
The download is free. The free tier covers barcode scanning, the per-product grade, the additive breakdown with plain-English notes, the public E-number lookup at /e-numbers/, and up to 25 food log entries a day. NutraSafe Pro (£3.99 a month, monthly only, iOS) unlocks the detailed processed-food and NRV insights view, allergen warning detail, AI Coach, AI meal scan, fasting features and suspected-triggers analysis.
No. We don't use reassurance language on additive copy — regulatory approval is a regulatory category, not a biological verdict, and the science evolves. Our notes describe what published research actually says ("linked to", "may disrupt", "raises") and fall silent when the evidence is unsettled. We're a tracking and transparency tool, not a regulator and not your doctor.
