If you’ve ever felt frustrated creating custom foods manually or struggled when the food you’re trying to track wasn’t in our database, you’ll love our newest feature.
We’re excited to introduce the Carbs & Cals Label Scanner, a game-changing way to track your food directly from nutrition labels.
Tracking your nutrition shouldn’t be a chore. With the AI food Label Scanner, you can:
- Save time on manual entry.
- Get more accurate logs.
- Stay motivated to reach your goals.
Try it today and experience a better way to track your food.
Why did we create the Label Scanner?
Carbs & Cals has always been about making food tracking simple, visual and accurate. With our trusted database of 270,000+ food and drink items, we’ve helped thousands track the food they eat and log meals more easily.
Listening to customer feedback, we know it’s frustrating when foods are missing in our database. Because data quality is such a factor for the Carbs & Cals app, we are often limited to the verified data provided by our partners.
Feedback from our helpful customers highlighted the frustration when trying to find items that didn’t exist in our database. That meant users had to enter nutrition values manually, which was time-consuming and laborious.
Our new AI-powered Label Scanner fixes this problem. It lets you snap a photo of any nutrition label, instantly extract all the key information and add it to the app.
How to use the food Label Scanner
The Label Scanner reads nutrition labels in seconds using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) powered by Google’s advanced AI.
Here’s how it works:
- 📸 Take a photo of a nutrition label using your phone camera.
- ⚡ The app extracts calories, carbs, fat, protein and more.
- ✏️ Review and edit the information provided. Every scan result comes with a Confidence Score that tells you how well the scanner picked up the information. All values are editable, so you stay in control.
- 💾 Save as a custom food in your My Foods section and reuse anytime.
- 📊 Add to your diary with just a tap.
No more manual entry, no more searching. Just point, snap and track.
Snap a picture of the label with your camera
The app instantly extracts nutrition details
Save to My Foods or add to your Food Diary with a tap
Confidence Score: Know when to trust the scan
To ensure accuracy, each scan displays a confidence badge and score (e.g., “High Confidence 92%”), helping you to understand when to retake a photo for better results. 📸 Take a photo of a nutrition label using your phone camera.
This system gives you reassurance and control. Even low-confidence scans can be used, but you’ll know when to check twice or retake the photo. Results can also be manually edited or adjusted for ultimate flexibility.
🟢 High Confidence
(80–100%)
Crisp, clear image. The scan is highly accurate.
🟡 Medium Confidence
(50–79%)
There is a slight blur or angle. Values should be accurate and still usable, but worth checking.
🔴 Low Confidence
(<50%)
Image issues detected. Double-check values and consider re-taking the photo for better results.
Key benefits of the Label Scanner
✅ Faster food logging. Cut out typing and searching.
✅ AI-powered accuracy. Smart OCR extracts values from any label format.
✅ Confidence scoring. See at a glance how reliable your scan is.
✅ Reusable custom foods. Save items once, log them forever.
✅ Works for all dietary needs, whether you’re carb counting, calorie tracking, or monitoring nutrient intake.
Who can use the Label Scanner feature?
The Label Scanner is part of our Unlimited subscription, but all Carbs & Cals users can try out the new feature.
- Free users can get up to 3 label scans per day. However, the results are read-only (e.g., they cannot be edited, saved, or added to the food diary).
- Unlimited subscribers: You can get up to 20 label scans per day, and you have complete control over editing, saving to My Foods, and adding to the food diary.
Daily limits are reset every 24 hours. If you’ve stopped using food trackers in the past because they were too time-consuming, this feature is for you.
FAQs: Food Label Scanner
🔎 What foods can the scanner read?
Any packaged food with a nutrition label, from cereals and snacks to sauces and ready meals.
📝 Can I edit the values after scanning?
Yes. Every field is editable, so you can correct serving sizes or adjust details before saving.
📶 Do I need internet for the scanner to work?
Yes, scanning requires internet access to process the image with AI. But once saved, foods are available offline.
💡 Is the Label Scanner free?
Free users can try 3 scans per day. You’ll need to upgrade to an Unlimited subscription to get full access to the scanner.
Get started today!
Download the Carbs & Cals Mobile App
The Carbs & Cals Label Scanner is available now in the latest version of our app.
- Search 272,000+ food & drink photos.
- See up to 6 portion sizes per food.
- Unified Label & Barcode Scanner.
- Add your favourite foods.
- Track your nutrients and set goals.
- Your personal diet pro.
Whether you’re a long-time user, someone returning after a break, or brand-new to Carbs & Cals, this feature will make your food logging easier, faster and smarter.
If you have feedback on the new label scanner or need assistance, you can contact our app support team via the website or the Carbs & Cals app. If you’re enjoying the new feature, we’d be so grateful if you left us a review in the App Store or Google Play. Your feedback helps others discover Carbs & Cals, too!
Sign up to the Carbs & Cals mailing list
Want to learn more about carb counting and the role of food in managing your health? Sign up to our mailing list!
