The food label scanner built for busy parents.
Packing a healthy lunchbox shouldn't require a chemistry degree. BioBrief scans any food label in seconds and tells you exactly what's inside — additives, allergens, hidden sugars, and all — so you can shop with confidence and spend less time squinting at ingredient lists.
Free for iPhone and Android
Lunchbox Scanning
Point your phone at any barcode or photograph the ingredients list directly. BioBrief parses every ingredient and returns a colour-coded summary in under two seconds. Scan crackers, yogurt pouches, granola bars, and fruit snacks before they go in the bag — not after your child has already eaten them. The app works on products from supermarkets across Europe and North America.
Additive Alerts
BioBrief checks every ingredient against a database of over 380 food additives and flags anything with a high harm score, anything banned or restricted in the EU or specific countries, and synthetic preservatives and antioxidants such as BHA, BHT, and TBHQ. Each flagged additive links to a plain-language explanation page so you can read the evidence and decide for yourself — no alarmism, just facts.
Allergen Checks
Set your family's dietary rules once — gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, or any combination — and BioBrief highlights matching ingredients on every scan. The app covers the 14 major allergens required by EU labelling law plus sesame. It also catches hidden allergen sources: casein and whey for dairy, lecithin for soy, malt for gluten. Because formulations change, BioBrief always shows the raw ingredient list alongside its analysis so you can verify the source data.
Homemade Alternatives
When a scan reveals too many additives, BioBrief links you to simple homemade recipes for the same snack category — fruit snacks, granola bars, flavored yogurt, and more. Each recipe lists ingredients, steps, prep time, and yield so you can batch-cook on Sunday and pack all week. Homemade doesn't have to mean complicated.
Shopping Lists
Save scanned products to a shopping list and mark the ones that passed your family's rules. The next time you're at the supermarket you can pull up the list and skip the re-scanning. Premium subscribers get unlimited scan history and list sync across devices, so both parents stay on the same page.
AI Food Questions
Not sure whether a specific ingredient is safe for a toddler? Wondering what 'modified starch' actually means? BioBrief's AI assistant answers plain-language questions about any ingredient or additive in the database. Ask it anything — it draws on the same evidence base as the additive pages and cites its sources so you can follow up if you want to dig deeper.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is BioBrief free for parents?
- Yes. The core features — barcode scan, AI label scan, additive lookup, allergen alerts, and homemade recipe links — are free. A premium tier adds unlimited scan history, shopping list sync, and detailed nutritional analysis.
- Does BioBrief work on products sold in Europe?
- Yes. BioBrief's additive database covers E-numbers used across the EU and most other markets. Barcode coverage is strongest for European and North American products. For products not in the database, the AI label scan mode works by photographing the printed ingredients list directly.
- Can I set different allergen profiles for each child?
- The current version supports one active dietary profile per device. You can switch profiles manually between scans. Multi-profile support is on the product roadmap.
- How do I know the additive information is accurate?
- BioBrief's additive database is compiled from EU and US regulatory sources including EFSA and FDA assessments. Each additive page cites its sources. Because regulations and formulations change, BioBrief always shows the raw ingredient list alongside its analysis so you can verify the source data against the physical label.
Start scanning for your family today
Free for iPhone and Android. No account required to start scanning.