Introducing the improved meal scanning feature!

We’re excited to roll out a major update to our Meal scan function.* Now with photo uploading you can streamline your food logging experience like never before. With this innovation, we add the choice of real-time or anytime meal scanning for an even more integrated and intelligent system.**

*The meal scanning feature is currently only available to Premium users. Upgrade to a free 30-day Premium trial.

**Photo upload currently only available on the iOS app.

What’s new?

Premium and Premium+ users can now benefit from an even smarter, more flexible Meal Scan experience. Use your phone’s camera to scan your food in real time. It’s easier than ever to keep your food diary up to date – on your terms.

Now you can also easily log a meal just by uploading a photo later. Meal Scan now has more accurate tracking, so whether you’re eating out or just want to be present at the table, you can snap a quick photo and log when it’s more convenient.

Try it now!

Step-by-step guide to Meal Scanning

Here’s a quick rundown of the smooth new Meal Scan process:

1. Prepare and serve: Prepare your meal and have it ready on your plate.
2. Ready, ready, scan: Open Meal Scan and aim the camera at your plate before digging in. Want to stay in the flow of the meals? Just take a quick photo, then upload it to Meal Scan later to log your meal. (You know you took that picture for social media anyway!)
3. Smart detection: Meal scanning kicks in, identifying and matching foods from our extensive database.
4. Select and add: Confirm your meals from the scan results or use the search function to add extras.
5. Review and Edit: Check your selections, adjust serving sizes if necessary.
6. Log it: Are you satisfied with your inputs? Log your entire meal with one tap!

Pro tip: Meal scanning works best for meals where all ingredients are clearly visible. For mixed and blended foods like soups and smoothies, try voice log.

Our goal with these updates is not only to improve Mealtime Scanning, but also to make healthy living effortless for our community.

Try the new and improved Meal Scan feature now

Originally published December 2, 2020:

Phones have come a long way. They have actually come this farspeakson them, that’s not why your phone is by your side 24/7. Could we ever go back to not having a camera close at hand? We don’t think so. That’s why if someone tells you that you can log your food on MyFitnessPal just by holding your phone camera over it, believe them.

Chances are you use your smartphone to log meals on the MyFitnessPal app several times a day. In fact, our data shows that users log more than 6,000 meals per minute! So you probably log in without thinking too much about it. Simply enter your food and select a match or tap your favorite food and go about your day – like it’s second nature. But we’re here to tell you about an easier way – like scanning your food more easily.

It probably crossed your mind while typing “blueberry” that it would be great if you could simply take a photo of your blueberries to log this antioxidant-rich fruit. Well, at MyFitnessPal, we’ve done one better. No need to take a photo and wait for it to process and then log your food; instead, you simply hold your camera over the food for the app to identify it instantly, so you can verify and log it in no time.

Yes, visual foraging has arrived. Say hello to Meal Scan.

At MyFitnesspal, we’re always looking for innovative ways to make your life better – and your ability to log easily and accurately; this is where Meal Scan comes in.

“We know that when people jump on MFP, there’s no magic pixie dust in the app that suddenly makes you reach your goals. You still have to do the work,” says Michael La Guardia, senior vice president of product for MyFitnessPal. “So we’re trying to make logging as easy as possible. We want to help more people pay attention to their nutrition and successfully change their habits.”

Powered by Passio, which offers patented scanning technology for real-time food recognition and nutrition intelligence, this new feature shaves minutes off your logging time to make logging and its potential benefits of learning more about your macros, nutrition, habits, etc. more seamless than ever before. Even better, it delivers a verified food result, so it’s not only quick and convenient; it is also accurate.

• Find the right food faster
  No more typing to search for each food item. Meal Scan uses a visual food recognition system to provide reliable results in seconds.
• Track food more consistently
  Meal scanning is so simple you’ll want to use it every day. Good thing, because tracking what you eat is the best way to reach your goals.

All MyFitnessPal Premium users with language preference set to English have access to this feature. Just open the MyFitnessPal app on your phone, go to the login screen (or click here!) and tap “Scan a Meal.”

Point your phone’s camera, zoom in on the food item, and hold it over your food for a few seconds – no need to take a picture. Note that while you give MFP access to your camera, the Meal Scan feature does not save or upload data from your phone’s camera.

Then the library fills in verified suggestions and you take it from there by adding it to your diary instantly.

And if you want to log more foods, hold the camera over the dishes to incorporate the entire spread. Take it from us, your fingers will thank you.

While accuracy improves with more frequent use, the feature can already identify thousands of foods. If it doesn’t identify the right food, it will offer a list of suggestions for you to approve.

It’s about using technology to remove obstacles that stand in the way of success.

“Logging is at the heart of what we do, so we’ll always be looking for ways to improve it,” says La Guardia.

Cdamn it Meal scan now.

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