Scan meal and bar codes

kerryleesutherland

Hi all, I have signed up for premium as I want to be able to scan foods and bar codes and was wondering if this is only available on premium or can one do it with free app? Thanks in advance for your input.

ChaoticMoira

You can do it with the free version.

AnnPT77

Be aware, though, that the scanned results can be inaccurate, just like ones we search for manually. They're still entries from a crowd-sourced database, they just happen to be ones the initial user who entered them linked to that bar code. Sometimes people imagine that the scan results come directly from the manufacturer. They don't, they're just user entered.

ChaoticMoira

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Be aware, though, that the scanned results can be inaccurate, just like ones we search for manually. They're still entries from a crowd-sourced database, they just happen to be ones the initial user who entered them linked to that bar code. Sometimes people imagine that the scan results come directly from the manufacturer. They don't, they're just user entered.

That is interesting. Are you sure? I only ask because I have never had a scanned one be wrong, plus it usually has all the nutrient info, whereas the ones people put in manually generally don't add the macros and such.

AnnPT77

ChaoticMoira wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Be aware, though, that the scanned results can be inaccurate, just like ones we search for manually. They're still entries from a crowd-sourced database, they just happen to be ones the initial user who entered them linked to that bar code. Sometimes people imagine that the scan results come directly from the manufacturer. They don't, they're just user entered.

That is interesting. Are you sure? I only ask because I have never had a scanned one be wrong, plus it usually has all the nutrient info, whereas the ones people put in manually generally don't add the macros and such.

Yes, at least regular user-type people have been able to enter foods with a bar code. It's possible that people who bother with adding a food with a bar code are more meticulous. For example, I find a higher likelihood of accurate food details in food database entries that have the full name of the food spelled out correctly with proper words capitalized and that sort of thing, presumably because those tend to be from more meticulous people, too.

Lietchi

ChaoticMoira wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Be aware, though, that the scanned results can be inaccurate, just like ones we search for manually. They're still entries from a crowd-sourced database, they just happen to be ones the initial user who entered them linked to that bar code. Sometimes people imagine that the scan results come directly from the manufacturer. They don't, they're just user entered.

That is interesting. Are you sure? I only ask because I have never had a scanned one be wrong, plus it usually has all the nutrient info, whereas the ones people put in manually generally don't add the macros and such.

I am very sure that barcode scans can give wrong results. Personally, I have had many with wrong information, wrong serving sizes or missing information...

BarbaraHelen2013

ChaoticMoira wrote: »

You can do it with the free version.

Whilst you can scan a bar code with the free version you can’t use the ‘scan food’ function unless you pay for Premium. Quite honestly I don’t have any expectation that the ‘scan food’ function is anything more than a mildly entertaining gimmick though!

ChaoticMoira wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Be aware, though, that the scanned results can be inaccurate, just like ones we search for manually. They're still entries from a crowd-sourced database, they just happen to be ones the initial user who entered them linked to that bar code. Sometimes people imagine that the scan results come directly from the manufacturer. They don't, they're just user entered.

That is interesting. Are you sure? I only ask because I have never had a scanned one be wrong, plus it usually has all the nutrient info, whereas the ones people put in manually generally don't add the macros and such.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve scanned a barcode and the result is so wrong it’s comical! Not even the right product let alone the right macros! I don’t know whether this is because they reuse barcodes if a product that was originally assigned that code is discontinued or if it’s more a national thing for items not made for export etc.

Just a few days ago I scanned a package on fresh Taleggio cheese and the barcode returned some other product entirely - not even sure what it was but it was a branded prepackaged meat sandwich as far as I could gather. Something along the lines of ‘Uncle Amos’s Smoky BBQ Chilli Dog’ 🤷‍♀️

In fact it happens often enough that I’ve entertained the idea of starting a thread to record the craziness of barcode scanner results! 😂

goal06082021

Yeah, the barcode scanner isn't downloading any information from the package or anything, it's literally just searching the existing MFP database without you typing anything. Always check, especially if you buy store/generic brand or shop at a place like Aldi where it's all store/generic brand. Many times the "house brand" is made on the same manufacturing lines as the "name brand" and just put in a different-looking package.

ChaoticMoira

Wow, thanks all. I tend to always check anyway just out of habit, but it is good to know. I probably haven't come across that because I am a pretty boring eater; that is, I eat a lot of the same things over and over so I don't have to scan very often.

kerryleesutherland

Thanks for all you input - will certainly keep an eye on that.

springlering62

Just a heads up. If you shop at Lidl or Aldi, the barcode scans can be a bit wonky.

Sometimes they’ll return a different brand name with correct info. Presumably that’s the manufacturer that the stores repack store-labels under.

Often they’ll return a completely different item.

And because both are European chains, it often returns info in 100gr increments, because that’s the standard for packaging labeling in some parts of Europe, versus “serving sizes” as done in the USA.