Apps for eating out with celiac disease, and the one that reads the menu
Eating out with celiac disease comes down to one moment: the menu is in your hand and you have to order. Foodwell is the app for that moment: take a photo of the menu and see the dishes with no gluten ingredients listed, the reason for each, and the question to ask your server.
The usual advice is a pair of apps: a restaurant finder to choose where to go, and a barcode scanner for a packet in the grocery aisle. The menu in front of you today, at any restaurant, in any country, is Foodwell's job.
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Which app for which moment
| The moment | The app for it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Ordering from the menu in front of you | Foodwell | Reads your photo of the menu and shows the five dishes that fit you best, each scored, with the reason in plain words. |
| Knowing what to ask the server | Foodwell | Gives you the question for each dish that needs one, down to a shared fryer, grill or kitchen. |
| A restaurant someone else chose, or one nobody has reviewed | Foodwell | Works the same at every restaurant: it reads the menu itself, so nobody has to list the place first. |
| A menu in another language | Foodwell | Reads any language and answers in English, Spanish, French or Italian. |
| Choosing where to go | A restaurant finder, such as Find Me Gluten Free | Shows restaurants on a map, with reviews from other gluten-free diners. |
| A packet with a barcode | A barcode scanner, such as Gluten Free Scanner | Looks the barcode up in its product database. |
| Any pack, barcode or not | Foodwell | Reads the ingredient list printed on the pack: gluten by any name, and the pack's own "contains" and "may contain" lines. |
At the table: what to order and what to ask
Take a photo of the menu, one page or several, and the answer arrives within seconds. Foodwell reads the whole menu against your profile and puts your five best dishes first, each with a score from 1 to 5 and the reason in plain words. With gluten in your profile, an allergen check sits above the dishes and names what a dish contains or what to ask about.
It picks up what a menu leaves unsaid: a sauce, a dressing, a dusting of flour. When the menu doesn't say enough, you get the question to ask, written the way you would say it: "Are the chips fried in a fryer shared with breaded food?" Shared fryers, grills and kitchens are asked about wherever they are a common risk.
A restaurant finder gets you to the door
A restaurant finder is the app for choosing where to go. Find Me Gluten Free is one: it shows restaurants on a map, with reviews from other members of the gluten-free community. A review tells you how someone else's meal went, on another day.
Foodwell takes over when you sit down. It reads today's menu, for your profile, and it needs no listing and no review: the restaurant your family chose, the new place on the corner and the café nobody has written about all work the same way. Pick the place with a finder; order with Foodwell.
A barcode scanner checks a packet
A barcode scanner looks a packaged product up in a database. Gluten Free Scanner is one: scan a barcode and it says whether the product is gluten-free. A dish on a menu has no barcode to scan.
Foodwell reads the menu, and in the grocery aisle it reads the ingredient list printed on the pack in your hand. So it works on store brands, imported food and anything without a barcode, and it sees a recipe that has changed. Gluten is flagged by any name, such as malt, barley, brewer's yeast or the wheat in soy sauce, and the pack's own "contains" and "may contain" lines are read too. One app covers the table and the aisle.
Abroad
A menu or a label can be in any language. Foodwell reads it and gives you the result in English, Spanish, French or Italian. It reads the menu itself, so it works in any country, at any restaurant and on any product.
More than gluten, and more than one person
Celiac disease with a dairy or nut allergy, or with low FODMAP: every rule in your profile is checked on every scan, along with notes in your own words. Add a profile for each family member, and share a food card that tells a host what you eat and what you don't.
Questions people ask
What is the best app for eating out with celiac disease?
For the moment that decides the meal, ordering from the menu in front of you, it is Foodwell. Take a photo of the menu and it shows the dishes that fit a profile with gluten in it, the reason for each, and the question to ask your server, down to a shared fryer. It works at any restaurant, in any language, with no listing or review needed first.
What is the difference between Foodwell and Find Me Gluten Free?
They do different jobs. Find Me Gluten Free helps you choose where to go, with reviews from other gluten-free diners. Foodwell reads the menu once you are there: it works at any restaurant, reviewed or not, checks every rule in your profile, and gives you the question to ask your server. Pick the place with a finder and order with Foodwell.
What is the difference between Foodwell and a gluten-free barcode scanner?
A barcode scanner looks a product up in a database, so it answers for packaged products that have a barcode and are in that database. Foodwell reads the ingredient list printed on the pack in your hand, so it works with or without a barcode, on store brands and imported food, and on a recipe that has changed. It also reads restaurant menus.
Which celiac app works when travelling abroad?
Foodwell reads a menu or a label in any language and gives the result in English, Spanish, French or Italian. It reads the menu itself, so it works in any country, at any restaurant.
Is there one app for restaurants and grocery shopping?
Yes. Foodwell scans both: a restaurant menu for what to order and what to ask, and an ingredient label for gluten by any name and the pack's own "contains" and "may contain" lines.
More on Foodwell for celiac and gluten-free eating