Barcode scan & ingredient import: build your library in minutes

The problem with building an ingredient library

When you first set up FoodCore, one of the first things you do is build your ingredient library. Every ingredient you use in your recipes needs to be in there — with its nutrition data, allergen flags, supplier and price.

For most food businesses, that means sitting down with a pile of product packets and typing out the nutrition panel for each one. Energy, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, fibre, protein, salt — eight values per product, per 100g. Then the allergens. Then the ingredients list if it's a compound product.

For a business with 30 or 40 ingredients, that's a significant amount of data entry before you've even started building a single recipe. It's one of the most common pieces of feedback we've heard: "Getting started takes too long."

Barcode scanning fixes that.

How it works

Open FoodCore on your phone — no app download required, it works in any mobile browser. Go to the ingredients section and tap the scan button. Point your phone camera at the barcode on the product packaging. FoodCore reads the barcode and looks it up in the Open Food Facts database.

If the product is found, you'll see a result card showing:

• Product name and brand
• Full nutrition panel per 100g (energy, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, fibre, protein, salt)
• All 14 major allergens, pre-flagged
• Composite ingredients list (for compound products like sauces, pastes or mixes)

Tap "Add to review queue" and the product is queued up for you to check. In the review queue, you verify the data is correct, add your supplier name and the price you pay, then confirm it into your library. The whole process takes under 30 seconds per ingredient.

The review queue — why it matters

Scanned products don't go straight into your live ingredient library. They land in a review queue first.

This is intentional. Open Food Facts is a community-maintained database and, while it's accurate for the vast majority of products, data quality can vary. More importantly, allergen information in your ingredient library directly affects the allergen data on your food labels — and you are legally responsible for the accuracy of that information.

The review queue gives you a checkpoint to:

• Verify the nutrition data matches the packet in front of you
• Confirm the allergen flags are correct
• Add your supplier name (e.g. "Shipton Mill", "Tesco", "Costco")
• Enter the price you pay and the pack size

Once you're happy, one tap confirms it into your library and it's immediately available to add to recipes.

What if a product isn't in the database?

Open Food Facts covers millions of products, but it won't have everything — particularly own-label products from small local suppliers, specialist ingredients, or very new products.

If a barcode isn't found, you have two options:

• Save a placeholder — the barcode is saved with a blank record so you can come back and fill in the details manually later. Nothing gets lost.
• Skip — dismiss the scan and add the ingredient manually from scratch in the usual way.

For most UK food businesses using mainstream branded ingredients, the hit rate on Open Food Facts is high. Supermarket own-brand products, major ingredient brands and most packaged goods are well covered.

What gets imported

Here's exactly what comes in with a successful scan:

• Product name — e.g. "GF Flour Blend"
• Brand — e.g. "Shipton Mill"
• Energy — kJ and kcal per 100g
• Fat — total and saturated, per 100g
• Carbohydrates — total and sugars, per 100g
• Fibre — per 100g
• Protein — per 100g
• Salt — per 100g
• Allergens — all 14 major allergens flagged from product data
• Ingredients list — full composite ingredients for compound products

The only things you add yourself at review are your supplier name and the price you pay — because those are specific to your business and won't be in any external database.

Which devices does it work on?

Barcode scanning works on any device with a camera and a modern browser. That includes:

• iPhone (Safari or Chrome)
• Android phones (Chrome, Firefox, Samsung Internet)
• iPad and Android tablets

It does not require a separate app download. FoodCore uses the browser's built-in camera API, which is supported on all modern mobile browsers. Desktop computers without a camera cannot use the scan feature, but you can still add ingredients manually on desktop as normal.

Is barcode scanning included in the standard plan?

Yes. Barcode ingredient import is included in the standard FoodCore subscription at £55/month. There are no per-scan fees, no add-on charges, and no separate tier required.

If you're already a FoodCore subscriber, the feature is available in your account now. Go to the ingredients section and look for the scan button.

How this fits into your workflow

The most efficient way to use barcode scanning is during a delivery or stock check. When a new product arrives, scan it immediately. It goes into your review queue, and you can confirm it into your library in bulk at the end of the day — adding prices and suppliers for everything in one sitting.

This means your ingredient library stays current with your actual stock, and you're never blocked from building a recipe because an ingredient isn't in the system yet.