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FoodPeel is a mobile app that helps you make smarter choices at the grocery store. Here's how it works:

• Scan any barcode — point your phone at any packaged food product
• Get an instant rating — see a color-coded safety rating and plain-English breakdown of every ingredient in seconds
• Find better options — FoodPeel suggests cleaner alternatives so you don't have to compromise on taste or budget

No chemistry degree required. No endless Googling. Just the answer — right when you need it in the grocery aisle.

FoodPeel is currently in development. We're building the iOS and Android apps and plan to launch in 2026. We're accepting early access signups now.

Early access members get the Pro plan free for 3 months at launch. That's a $25 value, yours at no cost just for signing up before we launch. Join the early access list →

FoodPeel will launch on iOS (iPhone) and Android simultaneously. We're targeting both platforms from day one so no one gets left behind.

We're also exploring a web version for users who want to look up products from their desktop — though the barcode scanning feature will be mobile-only initially.

FoodPeel uses a combination of public food databases (including the USDA National Nutrient Database, Open Food Facts, and commercial databases) and our own ingredient analysis layer to build complete product profiles.

When you scan a barcode, FoodPeel retrieves the product's ingredient list, then runs each ingredient through our safety rating engine to produce a complete breakdown. The database is updated continuously as new products are added and formulations change.

Every rating is grounded in published science — not trends, not opinion, not wellness influencer takes. Our rating criteria include:

• Regulatory status — Is this ingredient banned or restricted in other countries with stricter standards (EU, Japan, Canada)?
• Peer-reviewed research — What do large-scale human studies show? What does the animal research suggest?
• Expert consensus — What do toxicologists, nutritional scientists, and public health researchers generally agree on?
• Dose and context — The dose makes the poison. Something harmful at high doses may be acceptable at trace levels.

We show our reasoning. Every rating links to the evidence so you can evaluate it yourself. We don't have an agenda — we follow the science.

FoodPeel uses five ratings — no middle-ground ambiguity:

• 🟢 Clean — Real ingredients, nothing concerning. Eat with zero guilt.
• 🟡 Mostly Clean — Generally good, with a minor ingredient or two worth knowing about. Fine to eat regularly.
• 🟠 Iffy — Some concerning additives present. Okay occasionally, not daily.
• 🔴 Dirty — Multiple red-flag ingredients. Consider a cleaner alternative.
• ☠️ Toxic — Serious concerns. Contains ingredients linked to real health risks. Avoid when possible.

FDA "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) status was mostly established decades ago, often based on limited studies. You can look up specific ingredients in our database to see the full picture on any additive. The FDA has a principle of regulatory conservatism — they typically don't remove an ingredient unless there's very strong evidence of harm at typical consumption levels.

Other regulatory bodies with more precautionary standards — particularly the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and Japan's MHLW — have banned or restricted hundreds of additives that remain legal in the US. We look at the full global picture, not just the FDA.

Examples: Red 3 (Erythrosine) caused thyroid tumors in rats and was banned from cosmetics in 1990 — but remained in food until 2025. For more on this regulatory gap, see our article on 12 ingredients banned in Europe but still in US food. Potassium Bromate is banned in the EU, UK, Canada, Japan, and Brazil, but still legal in most US states. BVO was linked to health concerns for decades before the FDA finally acted in 2024.

We think you deserve to know what the full scientific picture shows, not just what the FDA has gotten around to addressing.

We follow the evidence. And the evidence on ultra-processed foods — as a category — is not good. Read our deep-dive on what ultra-processed foods are and why they matter. Multiple large-scale epidemiological studies have linked ultra-processed food consumption to higher rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and all-cause mortality.

That said, we rate individual products on their merits. A minimally processed protein bar with clean ingredients can get a "Clean" rating. A heavily processed product with artificial dyes, synthetic preservatives, and trans fats can get a "Dirty" rating. The category doesn't determine the rating — the actual ingredients do.

When a product isn't in our database, FoodPeel's AI can analyze the ingredient list visually — you can photograph the ingredient panel if the barcode doesn't produce results. The AI reads the ingredient list and cross-references each ingredient against our safety database.

AI also helps with ingredient disambiguation — knowing that "ascorbic acid" = vitamin C, or that "tocopherols" = vitamin E, or that 15 different names on a label all mean "sugar." This is a massive part of label transparency that most databases miss.

FoodPeel doesn't use AI to make food safety decisions — that work is done by human researchers, scientists, and regulatory bodies. What AI does is help us process, organize, and deliver that research at scale so you can access it instantly from your phone.

Think of it like this: the knowledge in a medical textbook isn't wrong because someone used a computer to help format it. The AI handles the lookup and delivery; the science behind the ratings is human-verified.

We collect what's needed to run the app and nothing more:

• Email address — to send you your early access confirmation and launch notification
• Scan history (Pro feature, optional) — to enable history review and personalized recommendations
• Anonymous usage analytics — to understand which features are used, not who's using them

We don't sell your data. We don't share it with food companies. We're not in the business of building advertising profiles on what you eat. See our full Privacy Policy →

No. Full stop. We are not in the advertising business and our business model doesn't depend on selling user data.

FoodPeel makes money through Pro subscriptions — not by selling your purchase habits or dietary information to food companies, supermarkets, or advertisers. A tool you trust to tell you the truth about food can't also be secretly monetizing your food choices. Those two things are incompatible.

Yes, and we mean it. The free plan includes enough to make genuinely better grocery choices:

• Scan up to 10 products per day
• See the overall safety rating for any product
• View a summary of concerning ingredients
• Access our ingredient database

We believe everyone deserves to know what's in their food — not just people who can afford a premium subscription. The free plan is free forever, not a free trial.

See the full comparison on our Pricing page →

The Pro plan ($2.99/month or $24.99/year) unlocks the full FoodPeel experience:

• Unlimited scans — no daily limits
• Full ingredient breakdowns — see every ingredient rated individually, not just the overall product score
• Cleaner alternatives — FoodPeel suggests better products available at the same store
• Scan history — review everything you've scanned
• Dietary filters — filter by allergens, diet type (vegan, keto, etc.), and specific ingredients to avoid
• Family sharing — (coming soon) share an account with your household

People who sign up for early access before we launch get:

• Pro free for 3 months — a $9 value, applied automatically to your account at launch
• First notification — we'll email you the moment the app goes live on the App Store and Google Play
• Roadmap input — early members can vote on features and tell us what matters most to them

There's no catch and no credit card required. Just sign up with your email → and you're on the list.