GlucholBarcode and restaurant menu scanning
Use packaged-food and restaurant information carefully: check product matches, serving sizes, sauces and missing nutrition before comparing meals.
What does a barcode scan tell you?
A barcode identifies a product entry, not the nutritional content of the food physically in front of you. Confirm the brand, product variant and serving size. Reformulations and database gaps mean the package label remains an important cross-check.
Compare products on the same basis. A per-100g comparison helps assess composition, while the actual portion helps assess what you plan to eat. Salt, saturated fat and carbohydrate are different dimensions, not interchangeable measures.
What can a restaurant menu scan estimate?
A menu describes a dish but often omits exact ingredients and portions. Gluchol can use that description to support an educational comparison. It cannot know the chef's recipe, added salt or oil unless reliable information is available.
Ask the restaurant for ingredient, allergen and nutrition information. Include sides, condiments and drinks when comparing an order. Do not rely on a menu scan to establish allergen safety.
Check what is known and what is assumed
For packaged food, favour verified label information over a generic guess. For restaurant dishes, treat numerical estimates and impact categories as uncertain when the recipe is unavailable. Do not interpret a missing nutrient value as zero.
The NHS notes that salt can be present in packaged foods and restaurant or takeaway meals. Looking at sauces and portion sizes as well as the main dish makes comparisons more useful.
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