Ingredient guides & advice
Understand what's in the products you use every day.
From hidden allergens in food to unfamiliar skincare ingredients, knowing what's in a product isn't always straightforward.
Explore our practical guides to reading ingredient labels, understanding what to look for and finding ways to check the products you buy and use.
For yourself, your family or someone you care about.
Food allergies & intolerances · Skincare & everyday products · Ingredient scanners & app comparisons · Travel & foreign-language labels
Food allergies & intolerances
Know what to look for in your food.
Food labels can be confusing, particularly when you're checking for allergies, intolerances or specific dietary requirements.
Ingredients may appear under unfamiliar names, and different people in the same family may need to avoid different things.
These guides explain what to look for and how ingredient-checking tools can help.
Hidden Allergen Names on Food Labels: What to Look For
Milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanuts and other allergens can appear under names you might not immediately recognise. Learn about alternative ingredient names and why checking the full label matters.
Gluten-Free Scanner: How to Check Food Labels for Gluten
Checking for gluten means looking for more than the word "gluten". See the cereals and other names to look for, how UK and US labels show them, and how a coeliac starting list helps.
Food Scanner App: Check Ingredients for Allergies and Intolerances
Understand how food scanner apps can help you check ingredient labels against your dietary requirements, whether you're shopping for yourself or your family.
Allergy Scanner Apps for Families: Checking Multiple Profiles
One child avoids dairy. Another needs to avoid peanuts. Find out how personalised ingredient checking can help when different family members have different requirements.
Skincare & everyday products
Your ingredient requirements don't stop at food.
From your morning moisturiser to the shampoo on your bathroom shelf, everyday products can contain ingredients you need or prefer to avoid.
Understanding cosmetic ingredient lists, including unfamiliar names and terminology, can make choosing products easier.
Ingredient scanners & app comparisons
Not all ingredient-checking apps work the same way.
Some apps identify products through their barcodes and retrieve information from a database. Others read the ingredient information printed on the packaging.
Understanding the difference can help you choose the right approach for your needs.
Barcode Scanner vs Ingredient Label Scanner: What's the Difference?
A product's ingredients can change, and stored product information may not always reflect the packaging you're holding. Explore how barcode lookups and actual-label scanning differ.
Yuka vs ClearaScan: What's the Difference?
Yuka and ClearaScan approach product checking differently. Compare their methods, the information they use and the questions each app is designed to help answer.Fig vs ClearaScan: Comparing Ingredient Checking Apps
Looking for an app to help with dietary restrictions? Explore how Fig and ClearaScan approach ingredient checking and personalised requirements.
Yuka and Fig Alternatives for Ingredient Checking
Looking beyond the best-known food and ingredient apps? See how Yuka, Fig and ClearaScan each check products, from product ratings and diet filters to reading the printed label for each person.
Travel & foreign-language labels
Shopping abroad? Understand what you're buying.
Finding familiar products isn't always easy when the ingredient label is written in a language you don't understand.
Whether you're travelling, shopping in an international supermarket or buying imported products, understanding the ingredients can help you make more informed choices.
Why the actual label matters
Same product. Same barcode. Same ingredients?
Manufacturers can change a product's ingredients without necessarily changing its barcode, so stored product information may not match the pack you're holding. That's why checking the actual label matters when you need to avoid specific ingredients.
Meet ClearaScan
Want to know what's in a product? Let ClearaScan read the actual ingredient label.
Understanding ingredients is one thing. Checking them against your own requirements is another.
ClearaScan is an ingredient checker for iPhone that reads the ingredient list on the product you're holding and checks it against your personal Ingredient Guard.
You can use it to:
- Check food, skincare, shampoo and cosmetics. Read ingredient lists from the everyday products you buy and use.
- Check for yourself or your family. Create a separate Ingredient Guard for each person, with their own ingredients to avoid.
- Check one label for multiple people. See personalised results without photographing the same product again.
- Understand supported foreign-language labels. Translate ingredient information into English and check it against your selected rules.
- Save products you've already checked. Keep them in Trusted Products, with reminders when it's time to check the label again.
- Share an Ingredient Guard with someone you trust. Care Circle lets another person check products for someone you care about on their own phone.
Your Ingredient Guard. Your everyday products. One app.
Try it free for 7 days, with up to 40 scans. No card needed and no automatic subscription.
Available on iPhone. Android coming soon.
A note about ingredient checking
A useful extra check, not a replacement for the label.
ClearaScan helps you read ingredient information and identify matches against your selected Ingredient Guard.
Results depend on the information captured and the rules you've chosen. Ingredient recognition and translation may not always be complete or accurate.
Always verify the original product packaging, including allergen and precautionary information, before making a decision.
ClearaScan is an ingredient information tool, not medical advice.