Read Mumsnetters’ feedback on the new Change4Life food scanner app

[JustineBMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the MNers who have been testing the Change4Life food scanner app.

Here’s what PHE has to say: “Without realising it we’re all eating too much sugar, saturated fat and salt. The new and improved ‘Food Scanner’ app is here to help you and your family make healthier food and drink choices. Simply scan the barcode of your food and drink to reveal what’s inside.”

Testers, please answer the below questions.

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?
2. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?
3. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?
4. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?
5. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

All testers who give their feedback will be sent a £5 Amazon voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Additional questions:

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?

We make fairly healthy choices already but some snacks are not so good and it has helped my kids better understand what we should be looking for in a healthier snack

2. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?

The sugar cubes are great as a visual way for kids to get involved in choosing items.

3. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?

Yes but probably only when looking at something new - generally shop on line

4. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?

We have selected different packed lunch items and snacks as a result of using the app.

5. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

More barcodes added as a couple of items I scanned werent on the database, or the ability to add items yourself

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?
Definitely! There were a few snacks that got placed back down on the shelf
2. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?
It was easy to use and simple ti understand the amount of sugar in each thing we scanned
3. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?
Yes, especially when food shopping.
4. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?
I was going to buy some fruit snacks for my daughter. I scanned them and uncovered that these 'healthy' snacks had more sugar in them than a chocolate bar
5. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?
If you could link it with supermarkets online, you could know how much sugar would be in all of your food shopping, or within meals.

Am I too late to this? I’m confused about the changing questions so I have answered both sets.

first set

1. If you usually manage or monitor your family’s intake of sugar, how do you do this?

I am not especially knowledgeable but try to stick to fresh foods and home made when I can to cut down on processed stuff. In the house we pretty much only drink water as I believe even things like juice really increase intake

1. How much would you say that you know about the sugar content in foods generally?

Not particularly in terms of actual amounts but I am very aware of sugar being in things you wouldn’t expect. This knowledge has increased since my recent pregnancy where I had gestational diabetes and controlled it with diet.

1. Do you think the Change4Life app has helped you to understand the sugar content in your foods?

Yes as it shows it in unignorable, very clear terms with the sugar cube images

1. What have you learned while testing the app?

That some sugars are higher than I thought

1. When testing the app, was there anything that shocked you?

How much was in savoury crackers.

second set

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?

Not really but longer term it would influence my shopping choices

1. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?

Easy to use, bright and engaging

1. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?

I probably wouldn’t use it all the time but would scan things out of interest sometimes

1. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?

I haven’t yet but if I scan more things I might

1. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

It didn’t have all the info for some own brand products. It would also be useful to have info for things like fibre and protein

Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?
Not on this ocassion, but I think it will influence me when making future purchase choices. I shop online, so from having used the app on stuff in my cupboard, I now know which items are not the healthiest choices.

1. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app? DD(9) enjoyed zapping barcodes, and it opened her eyes!
2. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?

Yes.

1. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app? N/a
2. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app? It was difficult to read barcodes that weren’t on a flat surface, eg crisp packets, etc.

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?
Yes, and it really helped eldest DC, who used it with me, to understand that just because it looks healthier doesn't mean it is.

2. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?
I liked not being the bad guy for a change saying no to sugary snacks, and that it's helped the eldest 2 to see that some snacks that look healthy are actually not very good for you

3. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?
Yes I think we will but not very often as we would just use it for things we hadn't had/scanned before

4. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?
I didn't change my purchase choice but it did stop some of the pestering for snacks aimed at DC, which meant a nicer shopping experience and no bad feelings

5. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?
Not everything is on there (understandably but not something I thought of ahead of using it) and this was disappointing for DC the first time they used it.

1. If you usually manage or monitor your family’s intake of sugar, how do you do this?

I try and look at the traffic light system on food packaging

1. How much would you say that you know about the sugar content in foods generally?

I think I’m pretty clued up

1. Do you think the Change4Life app has helped you to understand the sugar content in your foods?

Yes there is much more sugar in some foods than I thought

1. What have you learned while testing the app?

I’m not as clued up as I thought I was

1. When testing the app, was there anything that shocked you?

Sugar was in everything I scanned, even what I thought was healthy

The app is good but doesn’t recognise some baby foods

As Cagliostro said, have the questions changed??? I will answer the ones I can see!

1. Yes, the Food Scanner app helped me to make healthier food choices, particularly as the children enjoyed using it, and got involved in choosing what was healthier.

2. It was easy to use, and the children enjoyed it!

3. I think the novelty will wear off, but I would probably use it with foods that aren’t clearly marked, ie: with the traffic light system.

4. I didn’t swap any choices as such, but I did put back a few of the DCs snacks as I hadn’t realised quite how high in sugar/salt they were!

5. The only change I would make is that when you click on the icons for sugar, sat fat, salt and calories, that these are standardised to all have a green, orange or red traffic light icon.

Additional questions 1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?
Yes

2, was easy to use so children could have a go. Helped them to see why I limit certain a foods.

1. We will continue to use the app.

1. Didn't change purchase choice but did change what I put in lunchboxes/bag for park etc.

1. Just the fact that not everything is on it at the. Moment.

1. We do try to monitor how much sugar we consume as a family although this is not always easy or as clear cut. I limit how much sweets and chocolates we tend to eat. The traffic light information on foods makes it a little easier but the app provides a clear indicator of salt, sugar, saturated fat and calories in a product.

1. I reckon i don't know a huge amount about the sugar content or the hidden sugar content of different foods. The traffic light system and the app has provided more help and clarity than before.

1. Yes, the app gives busy parenta a quick obvious glance at sugar content in food. We use it out on various foods in my house and also at supermarkets and my children enjoy using it too. Should also give indication of sweeteners.

1. Some things were high in sugar that you would not think of as being bad but people ahould also be aware of having things in moderation.

1. Nothing that really shocked me but we did find that a lot of foods we scanned had no information available which was disappointing. I think this app has got serious potential and I have already recommended it to other parents.

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?

Not really as it didn't really work for me, the barcode reader didn't pick up the barcode 90% of the time.

1. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?

It was good to show my children the sugar cubes to help them understand.

1. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?

I'd like to but I just got so frustrated that it wasn't working.

1. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?

I didn't buy the Frubes yogurts my children like as the app showed them as having 11 sugar cubes in.

1. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

A better barcode reader! More barcodes scanned in (although I realise this is happening).

I will keep trying it and might try it on another device to see if it works better. I couldn't use it in a shop currently as my shop would take days!

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?

Yes

1. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?

It was really interesting to see how much saturated fat salt and sugar is in items and it is a fun way for kids to see this.

1. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?

Yes

1. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?

my choice of cereal I changed because I didnt realise that there was that much sugar in it.

1. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

There was a few products that could not be read so expanding the product range would be good

We found the Food Scanner useful to see just how much sugar there was in some products and a couple of items shocked me so much that I did not buy those products. So it definitely helped with making healthier choices.
When shopping for snacks, my daughter and I would each choose a snack and we would purchase the one with less sugar and salt. Sometimes it was obvious which snack would be lower, but there were a couple of surprises.
We will continue to use the Food Scanner app, but there were several items scanned that the Scanner couldn’t identify. Hopefully, more items will be added to make the Scanner more comprehensive.

As well as sugar, the Food Scanner identifies the amount of salt in an item and, sometimes, this was even more shocking than the sugar content. For example, we scanned a packet of Malteasers and were not surprised to find that they were high in sugar – however, they were also medium in salt and we hadn’t expected them to contain any salt.
We did change purchase choice due to the app. We were looking to purchase cereal bars as a snack at school and, whilst many were at least medium in sugar, we discarded those that were high in sugar, opting to purchase a pack containing two biscuits instead of one, but which contained less sugar and no surprises.
It would be good if the Food Scanner App could provide similar choices to the item scanned, but which contain less sugar / salt. For example, we all know that chocolate contains sugar, but it would be useful to know which chocolate contains less salt and sugar – that way, even if you were going to have chocolate, you can still reduce salt and sugar intake by making an informed choice. On the app it seemed to suggest replacing any snack with fruit and vegetables, which is obvious but if you really want chocolate, you may choose to eat a less unhealthy bar of chocolate but would not want to swap for fruit.

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?

Yes. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once I had I found it really easy to use and understand. I was surprised by what it made me reassess: e.g. even meridian peanut butter is quite sweet.

1. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?

The first time we got the little star for finding a 100cal snack was exciting!
The sugar cube rating was a great way to help my children to understand which snacks were too sweet.

1. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?

Yes. I find I need to be in really strong light for it to work well, but now that I know that I think it’s pretty ace.

1. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?

It made me rethink zoo biscuits - which I had previously thought were not too bad (for a biscuit). But we’re loving grissini as an alternative!

1. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

I wish it worked better in dimmer light - but that is partly because all the lightbulbs in my house keep popping.

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?

No really because I know what I buy already and am proactive about finding out what is in what I buy.

1. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?

My son enjoyed scanning and it helped him take an interest.

1. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app? Yes I probably will for a talking point with my less than healthy husband
2. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?

No I didn’t but it does mean I can show my husband what is in his choices which changed what he bought.

1. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

None

1. don't usually monitor strongly but do limit little one's sugar/sweet intake. 2)it was fun to use and a bit novel 3)probably won't continue to use it will no doubt forget 4)we didn't change our shopping habits because what we bought when we used the scanner was actually ok and we were happy with this 5)no

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?

It confirmed what I already knew so I made healthier choices but probably would have done anyway

1. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app?

It's easy to use and appealing for children. If my daughter was older I would probably get her to use it during the food shop.

1. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?

Probably not at the moment

1. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?

N/A

1. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

Add more products to it. Also option to tailor recommendations to fit age and sex of family members as salt content might be ok for me but not at all for my daughter.

Confused by the changed questions....new answers

1. Not really
2. Child found it fun to use. Me not so mich
3. No
4. No
5. Several items weren't on it - I guess this may change in time.

Answering different questions:

1. Yes, the Food Scanner app helped me.

2. The children enjoyed it! and it was easy to use.

3. I think the novelty will wear off.

4. I didn’t swap any choices.

5. No features to improve.

1. Do you think the Food Scanner app helped you to make healthier food and drink choices?

It confirmed what I already knew

1. What did you and your family enjoy about using the Food Scanner app? Liked the graphics

1. Do you think that you will continue to use the Food Scanner app?

No

1. Can you tell us about a time - if any - you changed your purchase choice as a result of the app?

Didn't happen

1. We’d love to hear about any features you think could further improve the Food Scanner app?

I really thought it wa a little misleading and could be dangerous in fueling food obsessions. My child won't eat dates now and uses the excuse the app says they are high in sugar...she will still eat a chocolate bar of course. As she says they are both bad so if I am allowed one treat a day I will pick the chocolate over the dates...doh

Has anyone actually received their amazon voucher yet? I presume it’s emailed to us?

Nope not received my voucher yet, hopefully they’ll be emailed soon....

Nope, me neither. And replying to their message to enquiry didn't work - email wouldn't send to that address

Dare i say, I’ve done several mumsnet testing things now, but this one seems a bit....disorganised? Issues at the start, two sets of questions, and now this. It’s a bit unusual because they normally run pretty smoothly.

I can't get it to work on my phone! Have been using a different app.

No voucher here yet. Was hoping to use it before my free prime trail runs out