Scan Any Food Label in Seconds with BioBrief
Most food labels are designed to be hard to read. BioBrief makes them easy — point your phone at any barcode or ingredients list and get a plain-language breakdown of what's inside, what it does, and whether it's worth worrying about.
Free for iPhone and Android
How Scanning Works
BioBrief supports two scanning modes. Barcode scan: point the camera at any EAN or UPC barcode and the app retrieves the product's ingredient list from its database. AI label scan: photograph the printed ingredients list directly — useful for products not yet in the database or for bulk items without a barcode. In both cases the app parses every ingredient, matches it against the additive database, and returns a colour-coded summary in under two seconds.
What BioBrief Flags
BioBrief checks every ingredient against a database of over 380 food additives and highlights: additives with a high harm score (E-numbers rated 3 or above on a 1–5 scale), ingredients banned or restricted in the EU or specific countries, allergens relevant to your personal dietary profile, hidden sugars listed under alternative names (glucose-fructose syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, and more than 50 others), and synthetic preservatives and antioxidants such as BHA, BHT, and TBHQ. Each flagged ingredient links to a full explanation page so you can read the evidence, not just a traffic-light score.
Allergen Handling
Set your dietary rules once in the app — 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 (now a major allergen in the US). It also flags hidden allergen sources: casein and whey for dairy, lecithin for soy, malt for gluten. Because labelling rules and formulations change, BioBrief always shows the raw ingredient list alongside its analysis so you can verify the source data.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does BioBrief work offline?
- Barcode scanning requires an internet connection to fetch product data from the database. AI label scanning (photographing the printed ingredients list) works offline once the additive database has been downloaded to your device on first launch.
- Which barcodes does BioBrief support?
- BioBrief reads EAN-8, EAN-13, UPC-A, and UPC-E barcodes — the standard formats used on virtually all packaged food sold in Europe and North America. QR codes on food packaging are not currently supported.
- Is BioBrief free to use?
- Yes. The core scanning features — barcode scan, AI label scan, additive lookup, and allergen alerts — are free. A premium tier adds unlimited scan history, detailed nutritional analysis, and shopping list integration.
- How accurate is the AI label scan?
- The AI label scan uses optical character recognition tuned for food label typography. Accuracy is high for clearly printed labels in good lighting. Handwritten labels, very small print, or heavily stylised fonts may produce errors. Always verify the parsed ingredient list against the physical label before making a decision.
- Can I use BioBrief for products from any country?
- BioBrief's additive database covers E-numbers used across the EU, US, and most other markets. Product barcode coverage is strongest for European and North American products. If a barcode is not in the database, the AI label scan mode works for any product regardless of origin.
Start scanning food labels today
Free for iPhone and Android. No account required to start scanning.