barcode scanner question

Caitlinhappymeal · March 2012

i’ve just really made use of the bar scanner for the 1st time and think its just fabulous, someone please tell me that once scanned the foods are stored somewhere and that i wont have to scan that food in again, someone anyone???

calell83 · March 2012

I believe that if it is something that was not already linked in the database then MFP will verify it is right and then link it. It also seems to me that if it is a new item when you add its information it is saved.

melaniecheeks · March 2012

It's not perfect - I had to amend the details that it was picking up from my can of tuna at lunchtime.

But once a food is in your diary, you can get it under the "recent" tab.

ladyraven68 · March 2012

i’ve just really made use of the bar scanner for the 1st time and think its just fabulous, someone please tell me that once scanned the foods are stored somewhere and that i wont have to scan that food in again, someone anyone???

yes it's saved, so when you want to add them again, they will appear in your recent or most used items, no need to scan every time.

MsBeautifullOne · March 2012

Does the scanner work on the iPad?

luv_lea · March 2012

Yes, it should show up on the 'recent' tab. Or if it's a meal/item you eat a lot~scan it, log it in, then save it to 'my meals.'

8break · March 2012

hmm, how do you scan food with the android app? Can not seem to find it...

Never mind, did a google search and found it! :laugh:

WickedGarden · March 2012

I don't think the scanner is all that accurate.

I scanned a can of Starbucks Energy drink, and it said it was 24 oz, it was 12 oz

i scanned olive oil and it said it was 140 calories per tablespoon, and the label said 120 calories per serving

also, not all the info is in the nutrition table like fat, protein, sugars etc...kinda frustrating.

I'd check the label and what the scanner says, adjust accordingly.

kaetra · March 2012

I don't find the barcode data to be all that accurate either, and on my Windows phone there is no way to edit the item after it gets pulled up.

I wonder where the data comes from? Is it items that people have manually added the data for and included a barcode using their iPhone or something?

dlwyatt82 · March 2012

I don't think the scanner is all that accurate.

I scanned a can of Starbucks Energy drink, and it said it was 24 oz, it was 12 oz

i scanned olive oil and it said it was 140 calories per tablespoon, and the label said 120 calories per serving

also, not all the info is in the nutrition table like fat, protein, sugars etc...kinda frustrating.

I'd check the label and what the scanner says, adjust accordingly.

That's not the fault of the scanner, it's just an inaccurate database.

Bar code scanner gives your phone some text. The MFP database maps that text to a food item. Just like searching the database with your computer, any of the items may have old or just plain wrong information, and you can submit an update to fix it.

dlwyatt82 · March 2012

I don't find the barcode data to be all that accurate either, and on my Windows phone there is no way to edit the item after it gets pulled up.

I wonder where the data comes from? Is it items that people have manually added the data for and included a barcode using their iPhone or something?

I was wondering this as well, and found this page: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/244-how-do-i-use-the-barcode-scanner-to-add-foods

Basically, someone adds an item to the food database and enters in whatever nutritional information they enter (which may be right or wrong). Someone else (or maybe the same person) uses the bar code scanner on a food item, and is originally told that it's not found in the database; from that screen, they search the database and associate the bar code with an item.

If the database turns out to be wrong, it looks like you can fix it yourself (and part of this is easier from your computer than from your phone, because the phone doesn't seem to let you modify food database entries that are shared with other people). You can do one of two things:

Search the food database on your PC to find the item that the bar code search brought up and click the Edit button to fix that record, or:

If the bar code is associated with the completely wrong food item for some reason (and the proper one isn't found at all), you can add a new database item yourself with all the proper nutritional info. Then scan the bar code with your phone again, and on the screen with the food item, scroll to the botton and tap "Find a better match". Once you search for the new record you created, you've also updated the bar code's association.

kaetra · March 2012

Thanks for that! That is so great to know! I really appreciate it!

WickedGarden · March 2012

I don't find the barcode data to be all that accurate either, and on my Windows phone there is no way to edit the item after it gets pulled up.

I wonder where the data comes from? Is it items that people have manually added the data for and included a barcode using their iPhone or something?

I was wondering this as well, and found this page: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/244-how-do-i-use-the-barcode-scanner-to-add-foods

Basically, someone adds an item to the food database and enters in whatever nutritional information they enter (which may be right or wrong). Someone else (or maybe the same person) uses the bar code scanner on a food item, and is originally told that it's not found in the database; from that screen, they search the database and associate the bar code with an item.

If the database turns out to be wrong, it looks like you can fix it yourself (and part of this is easier from your computer than from your phone, because the phone doesn't seem to let you modify food database entries that are shared with other people). You can do one of two things:

Search the food database on your PC to find the item that the bar code search brought up and click the Edit button to fix that record, or:

If the bar code is associated with the completely wrong food item for some reason (and the proper one isn't found at all), you can add a new database item yourself with all the proper nutritional info. Then scan the bar code with your phone again, and on the screen with the food item, scroll to the botton and tap "Find a better match". Once you search for the new record you created, you've also updated the bar code's association.

OH GOOD!
I was on my phone, and couldn't figure out how to edit the info...I was creating my marinara recipe, scanning all the ingredients since that's faster, and so much of it was wrong!

maybe they can fix it, so we can correct the info from our phone? At least now I know I can go back and correct the info.

Thanks!

Caitlinhappymeal · March 2012

i’ve just really made use of the bar scanner for the 1st time and think its just fabulous, someone please tell me that once scanned the foods are stored somewhere and that i wont have to scan that food in again, someone anyone???

yes it's saved, so when you want to add them again, they will appear in your recent or most used items, no need to scan every time.

hi, thanks for that, but it got me wondering that as you keep adding new foods, eventually it wont be in most recent and if you dont use that food very often eventually it wont be in most used? i wish they’d put it in ‘my foods’ xx

Caitlinhappymeal · March 2012

I don't think the scanner is all that accurate.

I scanned a can of Starbucks Energy drink, and it said it was 24 oz, it was 12 oz

i scanned olive oil and it said it was 140 calories per tablespoon, and the label said 120 calories per serving

also, not all the info is in the nutrition table like fat, protein, sugars etc...kinda frustrating.

I'd check the label and what the scanner says, adjust accordingly.

hiya yes i thought this too, i think its when other members have entered a food manually into the database and not entered it correctly, lets just says it a work in progress xx

barcode scanner question

Replies

Categories