About
We decode what the label hides.
TheFoodScanner is a free food label scanner. Point your camera at any packaged food and we’ll read the ingredients panel, translate every additive into plain English, and grade the health risk 0–10 — so the decision you make at the shelf is an informed one.
Packaged food in India lists additives by INS number and by names engineered to sound harmless — “yeast extract” for hidden MSG, “natural flavors” for a cocktail of undisclosed compounds. We cut through that. Every ingredient in our database of 101 entries carries its real meaning, why it is used, its daily safe limit, and where it has been banned abroad.
What we value
Privacy by default
OCR runs in your browser. Your photos never leave your device or touch our servers. No accounts, no tracking, no data harvesting.
Independent of the brands
We classify additives against published regulatory and scientific sources — JECFA, EFSA, FDA, FSSAI, IARC and WHO — not against marketing claims.
Built for the Indian shelf
Indian labels use INS numbers and names like “yeast extract” and “vanaspati.” Our keyword matching is tuned for those, not for US “Yellow 5” alone.
Free, forever
No paywall, no daily limits, no premium tier. A food label scanner is a right, not a subscription.
Where the data comes from
Hazard tiers, daily safe limits, and banned-abroad status are drawn from the published classifications of:
- 01 JECFA — Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
- 02 EFSA — European Food Safety Authority
- 03 FDA — US Food and Drug Administration
- 04 FSSAI — Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
- 05 IARC — International Agency for Research on Cancer
- 06 WHO — World Health Organization
The full ingredient database is editable in our openly-maintained Google Sheet and rebuilt into the site at build time.
Who we are
TheFoodScanner is an independent consumer-awareness project. We are not affiliated with any food brand, retailer, or regulator. We do not accept advertising or sponsorship from brands that appear in our database.
Read your next label.
It takes under ten seconds and might change what you put in your cart.
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