Barcode and label scanner
For anything that comes in a package, the most accurate number you can log is usually already printed on it. A calorie counter with a barcode scanner turns that number into a log entry in a couple of seconds: no typing, no guessing portions from a photo. Calorix scans barcodes for free, and when a product isn’t in the database, it reads the nutrition label instead.
How barcode scanning works
When you scan a barcode, Calorix reads the code on your iPhone with Apple’s built-in scanner, then looks it up in this order:
- Your own saved foods. Products you’ve logged or saved before are found instantly, even without a connection.
- Open Food Facts. A free, collaborative database run by a non-profit, with over 4 million products from 150 countries added by more than 100,000 contributors. Calorix keeps a copy for fast lookups and checks the live database for anything newer.
You then pick a serving from the package, or type the grams you actually ate, and the calories, protein, carbs and fat update before you log. The source of the numbers is shown next to them.
Calorix reads the barcodes used on food packages: EAN-13 and EAN-8 (most of the world) and UPC-A and UPC-E (the US and Canada). If a code is damaged, you can type its digits.
When a product isn’t found
No database has every product, especially new, local or store-brand items. When a scan comes up empty, Calorix says so plainly and offers four ways forward: scan the nutrition label, search for the food by name, describe it in words, or scan again.
If you log it from the label, Calorix remembers that barcode for you, so the next time you scan the same product, it’s found immediately. Nothing is added to Open Food Facts on your behalf.
How the nutrition label scan works
Take a photo of the nutrition facts panel, and Calorix reads it with AI: calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat and the other values on the label, from the per-serving and per-100 g columns. European labels in kilojoules are converted to kcal, and salt to sodium. The serving text is kept exactly as printed, so you can check it against the package.
The scan is told to report only what the label states. If the photo isn’t a nutrition label, or the numbers can’t be read, Calorix says so instead of guessing. The label photo is sent securely to our servers to be read, like any AI scan; the privacy policy has the details.
Barcode, label or photo: which one to use
| What you’re eating | Best way to log it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Packaged food with a barcode | Barcode scan | The product’s own declared values, in seconds, free |
| Packaged food the database doesn’t know | Nutrition label scan | Reads the printed numbers, then remembers the barcode |
| A home-cooked plate or a restaurant meal | Photo scan or a description | No label exists, so an estimate you can check and edit is the next best thing |
| Something you eat every day | Your saved foods | One tap, and it works offline |
Photo estimates are useful, but they’re estimates: in a preliminary NIH study presented in July 2026, four popular apps’ photo features underestimated weighed meals by about 250 to 345 kcal on average (EurekAlert). Labels are the better number whenever one exists, although they aren’t exact either: under US rules, a packaged food is only considered misbranded when its actual calories are more than 20% above the label (21 CFR 101.9).
A free barcode scanner, unlike some calorie apps
Barcode scanning is where calorie apps differ most on price. MyFitnessPal lists its barcode scanner as a Premium feature in its help center (checked October 11, 2026); Cronometer and Yazio include one in their free versions. In Calorix, barcode lookups, food search and manual entry are free with no daily limit. Pro, which starts with a free trial, removes the daily limit on AI scans, including label scans: see Calorix pricing, and MyFitnessPal Premium’s price if you’re comparing.
Updated October 11, 2026
