How to scan food barcodes to check ingredients and nutrition

To check a food's ingredients and nutrition with your phone, open a food scanner app such as Green Point and point the camera at the barcode. In seconds you see an A to E grade, sugars, salt, fat, protein and fiber rated from low to high, the additives with their risk level, the processing level, and the allergens and traces declared for the product.

Food labels hold a lot of useful information, but it is spread across a small nutrition table, a long ingredient list, E-numbers and allergen statements, often in tiny print. A barcode scanner pulls it together and adds context, such as whether 12 g of sugar per 100 g is high or whether an additive is one to limit. It is especially handy when you are comparing two similar products in the aisle.

How to scan a food barcode, step by step

1. Download Green Point on iPhone or Android. It is free, with free scans and searches every day; Premium removes the daily limits.
2. Open the scanner and point your camera at the barcode. The same scanner works for food and cosmetics, and the app recognizes which one you scanned.
3. Read the grade. The product page opens with its A to E grade: A Excellent, B Good, C OK, D Poor, E Bad.
4. Go through the details: nutrients, additives, processing level, then ingredients, allergens and traces.
5. Prefer typing? Search the product by name instead, using the Food filters (Nutrition, Drinks).

What the food grade means

The grade sums up a product's nutrition, its additives and whether it is organic. A (Excellent) and B (Good) are the best choices, C is OK, while D (Poor) and E (Bad) are products to limit. Everything behind the grade is shown on the product page, from each nutrient to each additive, so you can see what lifts a product up or holds it back.

Nutrients per 100 g or per serving

The app rates the key nutrients from low to high: energy, sugars, salt, saturated fat, protein and fiber. For US and Canadian products, salt is shown as sodium in milligrams, matching the label. You can switch between values per 100 g and per serving.

If you want to understand the numbers on the pack itself, see our guide on how to read nutrition labels.

Additives and processing level

Every additive (E-number) in the product is listed with a risk level: no risk, limited risk, moderate risk or high risk. Many additives are harmless, such as vitamin C used as an antioxidant, so the risk level helps you focus on the few worth limiting.

The app also places each food in one of four processing groups: unprocessed or minimally processed foods, processed culinary ingredients, processed foods and ultra-processed foods (the same four groups as the NOVA classification). It shows the processing markers found in the ingredients, such as certain additives or industrial ingredients, so you can see why a product landed in its group.

Allergens, traces, vegan and palm oil

Further down, you find the ingredients, allergens and traces as declared for the product. Traces come from precautionary "may contain" statements, which our guide on what "may contain traces" means explains. The ingredient analysis also tells you whether the food is palm oil free, vegan and vegetarian; when the ingredients don't settle the question, it can say "maybe".

What if a product is not found?

If a barcode is not in the database yet, you can take a photo of the nutrition table and a photo of the front of the pack. Its AI reads the label and calculates the score for you. Make sure the table is flat, well lit and fully in frame so the values can be read correctly.

Supermarket tips: compare products faster

• Scan two or three options of the same type (cereals, yogurts, crackers) and compare their grades, sugar and salt ratings.
• Find past scans in History, under the Food & Beverages tab, to check a product you looked at before.
• Search by name before you shop to check regular buys at home.
• Look past the grade when it matters to you: someone watching salt should check the salt rating, not just the letter.
• Use the grade to compare within a category. A cooking oil and a yogurt do different jobs, so compare like with like.

The same app scans cosmetics too: see how to check if your cosmetics are safe.

Limitations to keep in mind

A grade is a quick guide to a product, not a verdict on your whole diet. It cannot know your portion sizes, your health conditions or what else you eat that day, and it is not medical advice. Data comes from labels, so an outdated recipe or a missing value can affect the result. Use the score to compare and decide faster, and the pack for the final word.