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The free app is designed for iPhone 14 and newer models

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• A new iPhone app called Food Additive Lens uses artificial intelligence to help consumers and professionals better understand ingredients and additives in food products.

• The free app lets users scan ingredient labels and receive clear explanations about additives within seconds while shopping.

• Built on government and scientific databases, the tool aims to make reliable food information more accessible and combat misinformation.

Because of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s Make America Healthy Again, more consumers may be paying closer attention to food labels. Food labels tell you all the ingredients in a food product, but in many cases, its hard to know what the ingredients are and whether they are healthy or not.

However, a newly launched iPhone app is trying to take the mystery out of food labels by putting detailed, science-backed explanations of ingredients directly into shoppers hands.

The free app is called Food Additive Lens. It uses artificial intelligence to analyze ingredient lists and explain the purpose and safety of additives in plain language. Designed for iPhone 14 and newer models, the app allows users to scan a product label in the grocery aisle and receive near-instant insights about whats inside their food.

The tool was developed by Yihang Feng while he was a graduate student at the University of Connecticut, during a summer research assistantship with the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS). The project also led to a journal publication detailing how the app addresses growing consumer concerns about food additives.

Consumers deserve access to clear, credible information about whats in their food, Feng said. Food Additive Lens makes that information available instantly, right when people need it mostwhile theyre shopping.

How it works

After a user snaps a photo of an ingredient label, the apps three-part AI system goes to work. It categorizes the food product, identifies any additives, and explains what each one does whether its preserving freshness, enhancing flavor, or improving texture.

While some food ingredient lists can be hard to understand, the explanations by the app are written in simple, accessible language for everyday shoppers. The app also offers deeper technical and regulatory details for nutrition professionals, researchers, and health care providers.

For those who dont have an iPhone, a web-based version of the tool is also available.

Built on scientific data

Unlike many consumer-facing nutrition tools, Food Additive Lens draws from a wide range of authoritative data sources. Its food classification system was trained on more than 10,000 items from the USDAs Global Branded Food Products Database. It also incorporates information on more than 4,000 FDA-approved additives, using definitions and regulatory descriptions from the Code of Federal Regulations.

Additional data comes from the FDAs Substances Added to Foods Database, helping ensure that the apps explanations are accurate and evidence-based.

Accessing reliable information about food additives has traditionally required consulting scientific journals, regulatory documents, or textbooksresources that are not easily available in a grocery store setting. The app is designed to bridge that gap by delivering expert-backed information in real time.

According to the research behind the app, the project demonstrates how advanced AI can be used for science communication on consumer devices, offering a scalable way to improve transparency and counter food-related misinformation while maintaining user privacy.