How barcode calorie lookup actually works

Scanning a barcode is not a measurement, it is a lookup. The camera reads the number under the barcode, that number is queried against a database, and if a record exists the product's nutrition per 100 g comes back. So the answer to the question is not in the camera, it is in the database: which database, how much it covers, and who fills it in.

Which database Cookrange uses

Open Food Facts. An openly licensed (ODbL), community-contributed, global product database. We do not use a country-specific Turkish database and do not claim to - if a product has a record in Open Food Facts the barcode matches, and if it does not, there is no match.

The deliberate part of that choice: with a closed database we could tell you nothing about its coverage. With an open one you cancheck a product's record yourself and add it if it is missing - and what you add shows up not only here but for everyone using the same database.

What community-contributed actually means

The data is entered by users, not by a manufacturer or a company. That has two sides and both are worth stating.

• The good side: coverage keeps growing, local and niche products get added over time, and the data is public and checkable.
• The weak side: coverage is uneven. International brands are well covered while a small local brand may have no record at all. When a manufacturer reformulates, the database lags. And an error in a record stays there until someone corrects it.

The honest summary: for packaged products a barcode is a fast and usually accurate route, but it is a convenience rather than a guarantee. If the label and the database disagree, the label is right.

What happens when a product is not found

The closest contrast is photo calorie estimation: a barcode is a lookup, a photo is an estimate - and the two should not be read with the same confidence.

Barcode is only one of five logging routes in Cookrange. When there is no match the others remain: picking from today's plan, quick add, photo analysis, or recipe generation. That is the practical reason for not depending on a single route - no single route works every time.

How barcode data affects allergen filtering

Ingredient information for a packaged product comes from the same database, so the packaged-product side of allergen filtering depends on that data being correct. This is one of the specific reasons the filter is a preference filter rather than a medical guarantee.

Attribution

Open Food Facts data is used under the ODbL, which requires attribution. Cookrange states its use of that data both in the app and here. The database is public atworld.openfoodfacts.org.