Introducing MyFitnessPal meal scan with Passio

SRI spin-out Passio powers the tool, which offers patented scanning technology for real-time food recognition and nutrition intelligence

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

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

It’s probably crossed your mind as you type in “blueberries” that it’d be amazing if you could simply snap a photo of your blueberries to log this antioxidant-rich fruit. Well, at MyFitnessPal, we have done one better. No need to snap a photo and wait for it to process to then log your food; instead, you simply hover your camera over the food for the app to identify it instantly so you can verify and log it in no time flat.

Yes, visual food search has arrived. Say hello to Meal Scan.

At MyFitnesspal, we are always looking for innovative ways to make your life better — and your ability to log easy and accurate; that’s where Meal Scan comes in.

“Making logging effortless is the goal here. We know that when people jump onto MFP there’s no magic pixie dust in the app so that suddenly you hit your goals. You still have to do the work,” says Michael LaGuardia, senior vice president of product for Under Armour Connected Fitness. “We’re trying to make that work as effortless as possible and help more people be successful in changing their habits and patterns toward being mindful of their nutrition.”

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 eventual benefits of learning more about your macros, nutrition, habits, etc., more seamless than ever. Even better, it delivers a verified food result, so it’s not only fast and convenient; it’s also accurate.

All MyFitnessPal Premium users have access to this feature. You’ll just open the MyFitnessPal app on your phone and go to the logging screen (as usual). You’ll now also see an option to “scan food.”

Aim your phone’s camera, zoom in on the food item, and hover it over your food for a few seconds — no need to snap a photo. Note that, while you’ll give MFP access to your camera, the Meal Scan function does not save or upload data from your phone’s camera.

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

And, if you want to log multiple foods, you hover 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 usage, the feature can already successfully identify thousands of foods. If it doesn’t identify the right food, it’ll offer a list of suggestions for you to approve.

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

“Logging is at the core of what we do, so we’re always going to be looking for ways to improve that,” LaGuardia says.

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