Scan Nutrition Labels to Track Foods Faster

Nutrition label scanning is a powerful tool to effortlessly create and track new foods. This feature eliminates the need for manual data entry and guesswork, ensuring accuracy in your macro tracking. Whether you're counting calories, monitoring your protein intake, or keeping an eye on your carbohydrate and fat consumption, our label scanner simplifies the process, making it easier to stay on top of your nutritional goals. 

Over 2600 users have voted that a label scanner would be a valuable addition to their food logging workflow, making it the most requested feature on our current public roadmap. 

The new nutrition label scanner is fast, ergonomic, and comfortably embedded within the existing MacroFactor food logger. As of the 2.5.0 release, this exciting feature is available for download in the App Store and Google Play Store.

Real time detection of macro & micronutrient information

With the Label Scanner, users can quickly scan Calorie, macronutrient, and micronutrient details directly from food labels, watching as the information populates in real time on MacroFactor’s mock-label display. 

The label scanner supports all the micronutrients commonly found on nutrition labels and those micronutrients can be tracked in MacroFactor’s nutrient explorer, making it easier to see progress toward your nutrition targets.

For many popular label formats, the label scanner will also record the serving name, serving size, and weight or volume of the product you are about to log.

Integrated workflows for a seamless user experience

The label scanner works in tandem with the barcode search and the new food creation workflow. When a user scans a product barcode, MacroFactor searches through millions of foods to find a match. If the corresponding food is not found, the app will automatically transition into the label-scanning mode so the user can seamlessly get nutrition information from the branded product in their hand.

Once the label is fully scanned, or anytime the user is satisfied with the amount of information captured by the label scanner, they can tap Done to move onto the food creation workflow. 

Any information that was found by the label scanner will be pre-filled before they get to this wizard, including the food’s barcode, serving information, and nutrition details. All the user has to do is give the food a name and tap to log it!

Label scanner support for US and international nutrition labels

The label scanner is currently optimized to work with standardized nutrition labels on branded products from the US and Canada, but it also experimentally supports standardized international labels in English, German, French, and Spanish languages. If you are using MacroFactor outside of the United States and Canada, do not hesitate to give this feature a go. 

To better support users in Europe, MacroFactor enables you to swap from the US standard label format to the international label format. This setting enables users to visualize nutrients in the corresponding label order, making it easier to scan foods outside of North America.

If your interest is in capturing macronutrient information first and foremost, you can also default to MacroFactor’s food detail view order to group nutrients on the label by category: macros, vitamins, minerals.

Maximize your experience with the label scanner

We are excited that the label scanner is now a part of MacroFactor’s premium suite of food logging utilities. The label scanner is real-time, fast, and optimized to work with most popular label types encountered by our users. It will simplify tracking of new foods and work seamlessly with existing MacroFactor workflows. 

To gain the most out of your experience with this exciting new feature, check out the knowledge base article here that describes how to use the label scanner most effectively.

Ways to get started with MacroFactor

The MacroFactor team is available to help on the MacroFactor app community on Facebook and the MacroFactor subreddit. 

If you are ready to get started with MacroFactor, you can download the app now from the App Store or Google Play. 

You can also learn more about macro tracking, nutrition, and physiology by reading our in-depth articles or browsing our extensive knowledge base.