Product Check: scan a barcode and see what’s inside

Scan a barcode and see if a pack has seed oil, added sugar or sweeteners, and how processed it is. Free in your phone’s browser, no banner ads.

Point the camera at the barcode: SmarTasty shows seed oil, added sugar, sweeteners and how processed the pack is – without logging it.

At a glance

• Point the camera at the barcode: seed oil, added sugar, sweeteners and processing at a glance
• By the rules of SmarTasty recipes – honey, maple syrup and dates fit, sugar and syrups don’t
• One tap shows the ingredient list with the words that were found marked – if there’s no list, nothing is guessed
• The camera stays on; from two packs you compare them side by side – checked packs stay on your phone, even with no signal in the shop
• Add it to your shopping list or log it in one tap – you don’t have to log anything
• In your phone’s browser right now, in the app from version 1.2.6

How it works

1. Open the check – In the shopping list, top right – or on Today under “+”.
2. Scan – Hold the barcode inside the frame. No camera? Type the numbers.
3. Look or act – Tap the card for the ingredients, or add the pack to your list.

What the Product Check looks for

• Seed oil: rapeseed, sunflower, soybean, corn or safflower oil and unnamed vegetable oil – palm fat is noted quietly below
• Sugar: sugar, syrups, dextrose, fruit juice concentrate and anything else added to sweeten – honey, maple syrup and dates fit the line
• Sweeteners: such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame K, erythritol or steviol glycosides
• Processing: the NOVA group from “minimally processed” to “ultra-processed” – and how you can tell

Where the information comes from

• Name, ingredients and nutrition come from Open Food Facts, a free database with the manufacturers’ information (ODbL licence)
• SmarTasty reads the ingredient list by fixed rules – the same ones our recipes follow, without seed oils and refined sugar
• No grades and no risk levels for additives: you see what’s inside and decide for yourself

With your other numbers

• Your shopping list
• Your food diary in the Calorie Tracker
• With Premium: what the pack means for your day

Shopping List

Frequently asked questions

What does the Product Check show?

One line about your pack: whether it has seed oil, added sugar or sweeteners, and how processed it is (NOVA group). What fits sits below with a tick. Tap the card to see the ingredient list with the words that were found marked.

Where does the information come from?

From Open Food Facts, a free database with the manufacturers’ information (ODbL licence). If the ingredient list is missing there, it says “No ingredients” – SmarTasty doesn’t guess.

What if the ingredient list is missing?

Then you photograph it, with Premium. The text comes from an AI that only copies the list; it’s then checked by the same fixed rules. We don’t keep the photo.

Do I have to log the pack?

No. The check only shows what’s inside. If you want, it goes on your shopping list or into your diary in one tap.

Does SmarTasty rate additives?

No. You see the E numbers with their names, but no grades and no risk levels.

Is the Product Check free?

Yes. Scanning, the four checks and the ingredient list are free, with no limit when you have an account. With Premium you also see what the pack means for your day, and you can photograph missing ingredient lists.

Does it work without the app?

Yes. In your phone’s browser you open the check in the shopping list, and the camera reads the barcode. The app has it from version 1.2.6. If the camera doesn’t work, type the numbers under the barcode.

SmarTasty on the App Store – or use it right in your browser: the SmarTasty app.