The gap
Barcode scanners fail on the products you actually buy.
Every barcode-based scanner depends on that product already existing in a central database. When it does not, you get nothing at all.
FoodGauge skips the database entirely. It reads the label itself, so there is no catalogue to be missing from. If you can read the label, so can FoodGauge.
How it works
Three steps, about ten seconds.
- 01
Photograph the label
Camera or gallery. Point at the ingredient list and the nutrition table.
- 02
AI reads what is printed
Visible ingredients and nutrition values are extracted. Nothing is invented — if the photo is unreadable, FoodGauge says so instead of guessing.
- 03
The engine scores it
A deterministic rule engine turns the extracted label into one 1–5 score and explains every signal behind it.
The score
A score you can check.
The AI only reads the label. The score itself is computed by a deterministic engine, so the same label always produces the same number — and every part of it is shown to you.
- Nutrition quality40%
- From the visible nutrition table — sugar, salt, fat, saturated fat, energy.
- Processing intensity35%
- Additive-like signals in the ingredient list and an estimate of how processed the product is.
- Additive risk25%
- Against FoodGauge's own static additive rule set. No live external database lookup is claimed.
Override rule
If a high-risk additive, high-fructose corn syrup or trans fat appears on the label, the score is capped at 2.0 — no matter how good the rest looks.
Worked example
Total sugar is not added sugar.
FoodGauge reads added sugar from the ingredient list and treats the nutrition table as context. A “no added sugar” claim on the front of the pack does not settle it either — the ingredients do.
Nutrition table
Sugars 12 g
This is total sugar — everything sweet in the product, including sugar that was already in the fruit or the milk.
Ingredient list
sugar, glucose syrup
Added sugar only ever appears here. The nutrition table cannot tell you about it.
Questions
Straight answers.
What is FoodGauge?+
FoodGauge is a mobile app for Android and iOS that photographs a packaged food label, reads the visible ingredients and nutrition table with AI, and converts them into a single score from 1 to 5 along with the reasoning behind that score.
Does FoodGauge need a barcode?+
No. FoodGauge does not use barcodes and does not look products up in a central database. It reads the printed label directly from a photo, so it works on local brands, small producers, imports and bakery items that barcode scanners return no result for.
How is the score calculated?+
The final score is the weighted sum of three signals: nutrition quality at 40 percent, processing intensity at 35 percent and additive risk at 25 percent. If a high-risk additive, high-fructose corn syrup or trans fat is present, the score is capped at 2.0 regardless of the other signals. The calculation is deterministic, so the same label always yields the same score.
Is FoodGauge medical advice?+
No. FoodGauge is not a medical, diagnostic, treatment, allergy-safety, diet or calorie-counting app. It provides general information based only on what is visible on the food label, and it does not make health claims about any product.
Do I need an account?+
No. There is no login, no registration and no subscription. The app works immediately after install.
Are my photos stored?+
No. Raw images, base64 payloads and image file paths are never written to the local scan history. A compressed copy of the label photo is sent for analysis, and the local history keeps only the image-free result summary and detail, which you can delete at any time.
Which languages does FoodGauge support?+
The app interface and results are available in English and Turkish. Russian and Arabic are planned for the wider release.
What does a score actually mean?+
Results use four labels: Good Choice, Use with Caution, Weak Choice and Unclear. They describe where a product stands against FoodGauge's own label-based rules. They are not a verdict on whether a food is healthy or safe for any individual.
What happens if the photo is unreadable?+
FoodGauge does not guess. If the label cannot be read reliably, the result is marked Unclear and you are asked to retake the photo. An unreadable scan is not saved to history.
How much does FoodGauge cost?+
FoodGauge is free to use and contains no in-app purchases or subscriptions.
Privacy
What the app does with your data.
Support
Questions, a label that scanned badly, or a bug to report? Write to us and include the product name and, if you can, the photo you used.
mrfatihkrkmz@gmail.com- No account, no registration, no personal profile is created.
- The camera is used only after you choose to take a photo, and the photo picker only ever receives the single image you select.
- A compressed copy of the label image is sent to the analysis backend so the label can be read. It is not kept in your local history.
- Raw images, base64 payloads and image file paths are never written to local history.
- Scan summaries and details are stored on your device only. You can delete a single record or clear the whole history at any time.
- The app shows ads. Ad personalisation is governed by the consent choice you make on first launch, which you can revisit from the privacy screen.
- No medical profile, diet profile or health record is created or requested.
Coming soon
Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play.
Follow along while it ships. We read one label a day on Instagram.