EdJan 14, 2023
Ross Wintle

I’m a frickin genius.

Context: my kid is mildly allergic to citric acid and citric fruit. Brings out eczema. And citric acid is in SO many things. And it’s painful checking ingredients lists for it.

This morning I wondered: can my phone OCR the ingredients list and check it?

My first thought was to make a little web app. But there doesn’t seem to be a OCR in web browsers yet.

But I KNOW my phone can get text from images.

Then…

Apple Shortcuts!!!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!

Jan 11, 2023 at 3:32pmWeb
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023

Video of iOS Shortcut that checks ingredients for citric acid - see the post above for what this is about.

https://vimeo.com/788324740

Vimeo
Show threadVince Knight (He/Him)Jan 11, 2023
@ross Privacy settings don't seem set right on that video?
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@vinceknight Ah thanks. Now?
Show threadVince Knight (He/Him)Jan 11, 2023
@ross yup! That's cool as hell!
Show threadAlien🍉Jan 11, 2023
@ross this is so cool!!
Show threadelisa Jan 11, 2023
@ross this is RAD!
Show threadEdbroJan 12, 2023
@ross just curious, how accurate is the ocr? Haven’t used at all but see the value on applications like this.
Show threadRoss WintleJan 12, 2023
@edbro Seems good if you can get a clear photo. Small bottles are hard as they have a curve! And reflections on shiny packaging don’t help but it seems good!
Show threadTorbenbopJan 13, 2023
@edbro @ross it is not perfect, you could miss a word due to misspelling. But you could make another shortcut to scan and then read the entire result back to you. That Way you might understand a misspelled word anyway.
Show threadFrederik Braun �Jan 12, 2023
@ross I love the idea! I just tried the same for my own allergy and it seemed relatively unreliable for me. Maybe the iPhone SE (2022) camera is just crap? Maybe text recognition isn't mature enough?
Show threadRoss WintleJan 12, 2023
@freddy Hmm. Don’t know. My results were pretty good if I could get a clean picture!
Show threadBen HutchingsJan 12, 2023
@ross wow! 👏👏👏
Show threadfireglowJan 13, 2023
@ross that's pretty cool!
Show threadVince Knight (He/Him)Jan 11, 2023
@ross That's really cool.
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@vinceknight Isn't it!!? 🤯
Show threadVince Knight (He/Him)Jan 11, 2023
@ross I really need to get in to shortcuts more. That seems incredibly powerful what you've been able to put together there!
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@vinceknight It's my first go with shortcuts. Was inspired to try it. And now I want to make ALL the shortcuts!!! 😆
Show threadSherri W (SyntaxSeed)Jan 11, 2023

@ross
Lots of food allergy and intolerances in my family. An app for this would be invaluable.

Maybe where you could configure a list of no-go words like

peanut
sucrose
citric

Etc

Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023

@syntaxseed No one would build an app like this though. The consequences if you got it wrong would be immense. You'd have your ass sued so fast!

Only use for minor allergies. Not stuff like nuts.

Show threadTom CasavantJan 11, 2023
@ross
Would you still get sued if you didn't advertise it as a medical tool? More like an ocr search tool or something that technically has the functionality to search for citric, or other ingredients
@syntaxseed
Show threaddxzdbJan 11, 2023

@MrPresidentTom @ross @syntaxseed@phpc.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/soosee-allergy-vegan-scan/id1502026145 👀

‎Soosee - Allergy & Vegan Scan

‎Soosee scans ingredient labels instantly to warn you about ingredients you want to avoid. It includes more than 30 categories for common allergies, a vegan lifestyle, pregnant women, high environmental impact, additives, health and more! Point your camera at an ingredient list and words you have en…

App Store
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@dxzdb @MrPresidentTom Yeah. This has been recommended several times. 😃
Show threadSherri W (SyntaxSeed)Jan 11, 2023
@ross I found a few in the Google Play store. But none let you set custom words to watch for.
Show threadWillow T SquirrelJan 11, 2023
@ross @syntaxseed There is an app. It's called Fig and I love it!
https://fig.app.link/share
Source: I am allergic to corn, peanut, tomato, milk, egg, mushroom, and banana
Show threadRoss WintleJan 12, 2023
@WillowTSquirrel @syntaxseed Yep, I've had multiple recommendations for Fig and Soosee now. Thank you!
Show threadMax R. Cerrina (he/him)Jan 11, 2023

@syntaxseed @ross Absolutely not associated with the app, but I have a heap of food issues (no gluten, no dairy, also need low-histamine) and someone recommend FIG (Food Is Good) and it is invaluable. It's free with a lot of good features, tho scanning a barcode is paid, but you can search their database for products and ingredients and flag ingredients you can't eat. It's done by dietitians etc.

https://foodisgood.com/app/

Food Scanner App - Fig App

Fig is the fastest way to find food that works for you: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Low FODMAP, Vegan, Food Allergies or just avoiding additives and added sugars. It's free!

Fig App
Show threadpanisuzeJan 11, 2023
@alephnaught2tog @syntaxseed @ross Thanks for the information regarding FIG. I'll try it.
Show threadMatt Maber 📷🔴Jan 12, 2023
@syntaxseed @ross a simple list would be awesome, is this possible in shortcuts?
understanding that its not 100% accurate maybe
Show threadMatt Maber 📷🔴Jan 12, 2023
@syntaxseed @ross Knocked out this https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/8863226ff9b34b9ba80e6015a2669131
Shortcuts

Show threadRoss WintleJan 12, 2023

@Mattmaber Nice! Just don’t use for serious allergies. Use at your own risk.

Did I already tell you that?

Show threadMatt Maber 📷🔴Jan 12, 2023
@ross yeah under stood 👍
Show threadRoss WintleJan 12, 2023
@Mattmaber Yes, you can do what’s called a “regular expression” pattern match like this…
Show threadbazbt3 🦣Jan 11, 2023
@ross This, this is worthy of favouriting, bookmarking *and* saving elsewhere. Just in case you didn't know, you are a frickin genius. :)
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@bazbt3 Thanks. I wouldn’t normally say such nice things about myself tbh. But this was pretty inspired! 🤯
Show threadbazbt3 🦣Jan 11, 2023

@ross It's the first time I've started to compile a shortcut by typing instead of laboriously scrolling each section. Thanks, my muse. :)

Oh, I've added a bit to the Otherwise: ' "SAFE", ymmv, objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear. '

You get the idea. :)

Show threadCoolJojo 😄Jan 11, 2023
@ross @cstross That’s pretty cool ! 👍
Show threadjean-miJan 11, 2023
@ross open food facts appli Check for allergies
Show threadOpenDNA⚙️Jan 11, 2023
@ross This seems like a game-changer @mikamckinnon
Show threadfallenleavesJan 11, 2023
@ross Oh gosh. That would have been a game changer. Our daughter had a severe dairy allergy. I had no idea how many words there are for milk products.
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@DonnaG I wouldn’t trust it for a severe allergy. But as a backup for things you might miss it could help!
Show threadfallenleavesJan 12, 2023
@ross She was successfully treated about 10 years ago and passed a food challenge so as long she has several servings of dairy a day, it’s no longer something we have to be concerned with. So fortunate to have been at the right allergist at the right time for that program.
Show threadRoss WintleJan 12, 2023
@DonnaG Yeah, we've seen a couple of docs and they don't really want to know about it. *sigh* Thanks for sharing your experience!
Show threadNick PerksJan 11, 2023
@ross
In case helpful (and forgive if not) while citrus fruits do contain citric acid, the citric acid in foods does not come from citrus fruits. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid). So very possible to be intolerant to one and not the other. However, pectin does normally come from citrus fruit. You may have been around all this already, but its relevant in my family, so just sharing in case.
Citric acid - Wikipedia

Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@NickPerks Thanks. It’s both. Do not feed the child a lemon!!😬
Show threadNick PerksJan 11, 2023
@ross Ah, that's rough. In our house, lemons are banned, but citric acid is permitted!
Show threadTim BeadleJan 11, 2023
@ross this is amazing! I’ve just made a shortcut, inspired by yours, to check for milk in ingredients 👏
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@t1mmyb Use at your own risk (and not for anything severe). We’ll probably use it as a backup for our own manual checks.
Show threadTim BeadleJan 11, 2023
@ross yep, just an advisory check as a few of us are dairy-free for health reasons, but not due to an allergy.
Show threadRachael Ava 💁🏻‍♀️Jan 11, 2023
@ross I'm glad to hear that even now, people are still coming up with unique and amazing ideas for #SiriShortcuts, as someone who loved messing around with it extensively myself before I started caring about #FOSS. Heck, I was even using it back when it was called Workflows. It really helped me get into the idea of programming a lot more thanks to it's #accessibility.
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@RachaelAva1024 It’s my first shortcut! But yeah. Handy stuff. What else can it do? 🤔
Show threadfaticakeJan 11, 2023
@ross dude, you are. I made my own version for wheat. Thanks for this great idea!
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@faticake Use at your own risk, and not for anything severe!!
Show threadIan ApplebaumJan 11, 2023
@ross @matthewcassinelli Love the simplicity of this!
Show threadWolfJan 11, 2023
@ross or this: http://www.codecheck.info/app
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023
@wolf Will check it out.
Show threadKimJan 11, 2023
@ross This is amazing. My disabled daughter is severely allergic to “Natural Flavors” (AKA Autolyzed Yeast Extract, a lab grown fungal umami flavor here in the US) It makes her incredibly ill, usually puts her in ER.
But she is also visually impaired and can’t read fine print on food labels. She has missed it in the list many times. She hates that she’s lost her ability to be independant in food shopping because of it.
I’m going to help her try this. Thank you. 🙏🏼
Show threadRoss WintleJan 11, 2023

@kimlango I’d be VERY careful with anything severe. This isn’t 100% accurate and it struggles if photo isn’t good.

Use at your own risk!!

Show threadMark Van AlstineJan 11, 2023
@ross great work! I created something similar that used the barcode to get the info from a large database and allowed the user to input specific items that are allergens. These types of shortcuts are so helpful!