The free AI food allergy scanner for your phone.

Why you need a food allergy scanner app

Dining out with food allergies is stressful. Menu descriptions rarely list every ingredient, and language barriers make it even harder to identify allergens abroad. A single hidden ingredient — peanut oil in a stir-fry, flour in a thickened sauce, shrimp paste in a curry — can trigger a dangerous reaction.

ChefBear eliminates the guesswork. Point your iPhone camera at any menu, and AI analyzes every dish to identify likely ingredients, cooking methods, and allergen risks. Dishes that conflict with your saved allergy profile are clearly flagged before you order.

Allergens ChefBear detects

How the food allergy scanner works

1. Scan the menu — point your iPhone camera at the menu. ChefBear uses OCR to read every item, in any of 7 languages.
2. AI analyzes each dish — a vision-language model identifies likely ingredients, cooking methods, and regional culinary conventions (e.g., lard in Mexican refried beans, fish sauce in Thai curries).
3. Allergen cross-reference — results are checked against your personal allergy profile. Unsafe dishes are flagged with clear warnings.
4. See AI photos — every dish gets a realistic AI-generated photo, so you can see what you're ordering before you commit.
5. Translate everything — if the menu is in another language, ChefBear translates each dish into your preferred language while keeping allergen warnings visible.

Hidden allergens most people miss

Obvious allergens are easy to avoid — most people with a nut allergy skip the peanut chicken. The real danger is hidden allergens that don't appear in the dish name or description:

• Fish sauce in Thai, Vietnamese, and Filipino dishes — often not listed on the menu.
• Oyster sauce in Chinese stir-fries — present in many vegetable dishes.
• Flour used to thicken sauces, coat proteins, or bind fillings.
• Soy sauce contains wheat — a risk for celiac and wheat-allergy diners.
• Shrimp paste in Southeast Asian curries and sambals.
• Lard in traditional Mexican, Chinese, and European pastries.
• Egg wash on breads, dumplings, and fried items.
• Sesame oil drizzled as a finishing touch in many Asian cuisines.

ChefBear's AI understands these culinary conventions and flags them even when the menu doesn't mention them.

Food allergy scanning in 7 languages

Traveling abroad with food allergies is especially risky. You can't always communicate your allergies to waitstaff, and menus in another language make it impossible to spot danger. ChefBear scans menus in:

• English
• Simplified Chinese (简体中文)
• Traditional Chinese (繁體中文)
• Spanish (Espanol)
• Korean (한국어)
• Japanese (日本語)
• Vietnamese (Tieng Viet)

No matter what language the menu is in, ChefBear identifies allergens in context and translates everything so you understand exactly what's in each dish.

FAQ

What is the best food allergy scanner app?

ChefBear is a free iPhone app that scans any restaurant menu and uses AI to identify allergens in every dish — including hidden ingredients like fish sauce, flour-based thickeners, nut oils, and dairy derivatives. It flags dishes that match your personal allergy profile.

How does ChefBear detect allergens on a menu?

ChefBear uses your phone camera to scan the menu via OCR, then a vision-language AI model analyzes each dish to identify its likely ingredients, cooking method, and allergen risk. It cross-references results against your saved allergy profile and flags unsafe dishes.

Can ChefBear detect allergens in foreign-language menus?

Yes. ChefBear scans menus in 7 languages (English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese) and identifies allergens regardless of the menu language. It translates every dish into your preferred language while flagging allergen warnings.

What allergens can ChefBear detect?

ChefBear can detect all major allergens including peanuts, tree nuts, gluten/wheat, dairy/lactose, shellfish, fish, soy, eggs, and sesame. It also catches hidden allergens like lard, gelatin, fish sauce, oyster sauce, shrimp paste, and flour-thickened sauces.

Is ChefBear free to use?

Yes, ChefBear is free to download and use on iPhone. There is no subscription required for menu scanning, allergen detection, AI dish photos, or translations.