Tracking just became a “snap” using MyNetDiary’s AI photo food scanner

Sue Heikkinen, MS, RDN, CDCES, BC-ADM, ACE-PT - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist

Logging your food with MyNetDiary just got even easier with our new AI food scanner, AI Meal Scan. Using your phone’s camera, capture the foods you eat and save so much time on the way to meeting your health goals.

Our AI food scanner feature is here!

MyNetDiary has harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to make it easier to log your food. AI Meal Scan recognizes your food and portions and matches the components of your meal to our top-notch database to provide accurate nutrition information. AI Meal Scan is available to Premium users, while free account users have access to a limited number of scans.

Using AI Meal Scan to identify food choices in a photo helps you make more informed decisions and—dare we say—can even make logging more fun! Rather than relying on guesswork, the AI food scanner offers objective data about calories, macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals in your meals. This tool empowers you to stay on top of your health goals by ensuring you eat the right portions and get the nutrients your body needs. Ready to give it a try?

How to use AI Meal Scan

Tap your desired meal from your dashboard.
Tap “AI Meal Scan” or the meal scan icon at the bottom of the screen.
Take a photo of your meal. (See tips below).
Let AI do the work. You will have the results in seconds.
If needed, replace or add food items. The app will provide common alternatives. In the example below, if you used dried cranberries instead of raisins, select “dried cranberries” to replace the raisins with the correct item. You may also adjust portions.
Tap “Log” to add to your food record. You’re done!

Pro tips for easy and accurate AI photo food recognition

Use good lighting. A neutral background (free of clutter) makes it easier for AI to focus on the details of your food.
If you are weighing food on a scale, ensure the weight is visible in the image. AI will incorporate the weight to provide nutrition analysis.
Arrange the food so individual items (like vegetables, proteins, and grains) are not hidden or overlapping. AI can more easily and accurately identify each food.
Capture the entire meal, including the whole plate and all meal components (sides, condiments, and beverages). You may also choose to take separate photos of each meal component.
Include a visual frame of reference to allow better portion estimation. A utensil, a ruler, or even your hand will help.
Adjust the angle of the photo. For flat objects, like a pancake, take the image from above the food. For foods with significant depth, such as a stew in a bowl, take the photo from a 45-degree angle.
Take a high-quality photo. Ensure the image is sharp and in focus. A clear image allows the AI food scanner to better detect your foods’ details.
If you simply want to take a photo, MyNetDiary has a separate meal photo feature. You always apply AI Meal Scan to the photo later.

Will I need other MyNetDiary logging methods anymore?

When eating packaged foods, our barcode scanning feature will be more accurate since it provides nutrition information for your product rather than for a general match. For example, scan the barcode for a Quaker Instant Cinnamon Oatmeal packet instead of using AI to identify “oatmeal.”

Likewise, entering the food item’s name and restaurant is more accurate if you are eating from a popular restaurant’s menu. For example, enter “Wendy’s chicken nuggets” instead of using AI to identify “Chicken nuggets, generic.”

AI Food scanning + you = easy and accurate food logging

Of course, AI technology isn’t perfect, but neither are humans. Partner with AI to make your food logs even better than AI or you might accomplish alone.

Replace food items as needed for increased nutrition accuracy. For example, if you used low-fat shredded cheese in a taco, AI would likely identify regular shredded cheese. A quick swap gives you accurate info for your low-fat product.
Adjust portion sizes if you suspect they are off. If anything, AI tends to underestimate portions. It’s better to err on the larger side for portions if weight loss is a goal.
You may need to add meal components that aren’t visible, such as salt or oil used in cooking.

We hope you enjoy using this new and convenient tool, which offers yet another way to provide easy food tracking. Tell us about your experience in MyNetDiary’s Community.