Can I eat this? Scan any food for a heart score
Point your camera at a packaged food and get a heart score out of 10, traffic-light labels and a better swap. From the app, a widget, the Lock Screen or Control Center.
Scan a food free
"Can I eat this?" is a food scanner in the Heart Tracker app that tells you whether a food suits a cholesterol-lowering diet. Scan a barcode and you get a heart score out of 10, UK-style traffic-light labels for saturated fat, fat, sugars and salt, and a better swap if there is one. It's built for people with high cholesterol standing in a supermarket aisle wondering if something is OK to buy.
How do I know if a food is good for my cholesterol?
The number that matters most on a label is saturated fat. It raises LDL cholesterol more than anything else you eat, far more than the cholesterol in food itself. Soluble fibre helps lower LDL, and sugar and salt matter for your heart as a whole. Working that out from a label in a busy shop is hard, especially when one label is per 100 g and another is per serving.
"Can I eat this?" does the sum for you. It reads the nutrition data for the product, scores it for a heart-healthy, cholesterol-lowering diet and explains the score in a sentence.
What you see when you scan
A heart score out of 10
One number that says how well the food fits a diet for lowering LDL. Saturated and trans fat count most, then sugar, salt and energy density. Fibre, plant sterols and Portfolio diet foods earn points back.
Traffic-light labels
Green, amber and red for saturated fat, fat, sugars and salt per 100 g, the same way UK front-of-pack labels work, so you can see at a glance why a food scored the way it did.
A better swap
If a food scores low, you get an idea for a similar food that suits your heart better, such as a lower-fat cheese or a wholegrain cereal.
Log it if you eat it
Decided to have it? Add it to today's meals in one tap, with calories, saturated fat, fibre and soluble fibre already filled in.
Scan from anywhere
- In the app: open "Can I eat this?" and point the camera at a barcode.
- On your Home Screen: add the Can I eat this? widget and tap it to open the scanner straight away.
- On the Lock Screen: add the scanner to your Lock Screen for one-tap scanning in the shop.
- In Control Center: add the control and swipe down to scan without hunting for the app.
Every food you search for or log also shows a heart verdict and a swap, not just scanned ones, so you learn which foods help your LDL as you go.
No barcode? Scan the label
Loose foods, bakery items and products from small brands often aren't in any database. Photograph the nutrition label instead and Heart Tracker reads it for you, whether it's a UK or EU label per 100 g or a US label per serving, and fills in a new food. On iPhones with Apple Intelligence it also fills in any values the label scan missed.
Eating out instead?
Scan the restaurant menu. Heart Tracker rates each dish for your heart and suggests how to order it better. See eating out with high cholesterol.
Common foods, checked
Want to check a food before you shop? Our "Is it good for cholesterol?" guides cover everyday foods like peanut butter, cheese, oats, shrimp and avocado, and our product guides rank supermarket ice cream, cereals and cheese by saturated fat.
Frequently asked questions
What foods should I avoid with high cholesterol?
Mostly foods high in saturated fat: fatty and processed meat, butter, ghee, lard, cream, hard cheese, pastries, cakes, biscuits and foods made with coconut or palm oil. You don't have to cut them out completely. Scanning foods you buy often shows where the biggest swaps are.
What does the heart score out of 10 mean?
It shows how well a food fits a diet for lowering LDL cholesterol. Saturated and trans fat count most, then sugar, salt and energy density, and fibre, plant sterols and Portfolio diet foods earn points back. 7 or more is good for your heart, 4 to 6 is fine now and then, and 3 or less is best limited. It's a guide for comparing foods, not medical advice.
Is dietary cholesterol in food a problem?
For most people, saturated fat raises LDL far more than the cholesterol in food. Heart Tracker shows dietary cholesterol too, but the heart score focuses on saturated fat. See eggs and dietary cholesterol.
Can I scan foods without logging them?
Yes. "Can I eat this?" is for checking. Nothing is added to your diary unless you choose to log it.
What if the barcode isn't found?
Photograph the nutrition label and Heart Tracker reads it for you, or enter the food manually with the barcode already filled in.
Is the Can I eat this? scanner free?
Yes. It's part of Heart Tracker, free with no subscription and no account. It's new in version 2.2 for iPhone and iPad.
Related
Know before you buy
Scan any food for a heart score, traffic lights and a better swap. Free on iPhone.
Download on theApp StoreFree download • iPhone and iPad • iOS 26.0 or later • No account needed
