Free New iPhone App Provides Instant, Expert Information on Food Additives While You Shop
A new iPhone app called Food Additive Lens uses artificial intelligence to help consumers and professionals better understand ingredients and additives in food products.
Designed for iPhone 14 and newer devices, the free app allows users to scan ingredient labels and receive clear, trustworthy explanations about food additives within seconds right from the grocery store aisle.
When shoppers have questions about food additives, reliable information often exists in scientific books, journals and regulatory databases—but it can be difficult to access while standing in a grocery aisle. Food Additive Lens bridges that gap by delivering expert-backed information instantly through a simple smartphone scan.
Food Additive Lens was created by Yihang Feng while a graduate student at the University of Connecticut, during a summer research assistantship at the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS). A journal publication on the development of the app and how it addresses intensifying consumer concerns is available here.
The free app uses a three-agent AI system to analyze ingredient labels. After a user photographs an ingredient list, the system categorizes the food, identifies additives, and explains what they are and what role they play in food. The explanations are written in plain language to help consumers make informed decisions, but the app also can provide deeper technical and regulatory details for health professionals.
“Consumers deserve access to clear, credible information about what’s in their food,” said Yihang Feng, the app’s creator. “Food Additive Lens makes that information available instantly—right when people need it most, while they’re shopping.”
Simple to Download and Use
Food Additive Lens is free to download from the App Store for iPhone and is designed for iPhone 14 and newer models. To use the app, shoppers simply open the camera feature within the app, scan an ingredient label, and take a photo. The AI system then analyzes the image and provides explanations of any identified additives, including their purpose in the food.
For users seeking deeper insights, the app also provides technical and regulatory information useful for nutrition professionals, researchers and health practitioners. Users without the app can still access it on the web here: https://web-olive-one-60.vercel.app/
Built on Trusted Scientific Data
Food Additive Lens relies on authoritative scientific and government data sources. The food classification system was trained on more than 10,000 foods from the USDA’s Global Branded Food Products Database. The app also includes information on more than 4,000 FDA-approved additives, drawing definitions and regulatory descriptions from the Code of Federal Regulations.
Additional information comes from trusted sources such as the FDA’s Substances Added to Foods Database, ensuring that the app’s explanations are accurate, evidence-based, and easy to understand.
According to the paper, “This work demonstrates the feasibility of deploying sophisticated AI for science communication on consumer devices, offering a scalable model for combating food-related misinformation while preserving privacy and accessibility.”
A paper on the development of the app is available here.
The Food Additive Lens app can be downloaded here.
The Web URL for the Food Additive Lens app is: https://web-olive-one-60.vercel.app/
The Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) is committed to leading positive change across the food and beverage ecosystem. The development of the app was supported by IAFNS. IAFNS is a 501(c)(3) science-focused nonprofit uniquely positioned to mobilize government, industry and academia to drive, fund and lead actionable research. iafns.org
