Halal Food Scanner features
Halal Food Scanner is an iPhone and Android app that tells you if a packaged food is halal. Scan the barcode or photograph the ingredients, and every ingredient is checked against a reviewed table of 401 E-numbers and 169 named ingredients. The answer is Halal, Haram, Uncertain or Not checked, with the reason for each line.
At a glance
| Halal Food Scanner | |
|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone and Android. Free online tools on this website. |
| How it checks | Barcode (Open Food Facts) or a photo of the ingredient list |
| Who decides the verdict | A reviewed table sourced to halal bodies and standards; AI only reads the label |
| Answers | Halal, Haram, Uncertain, Not checked, with the reason for each flagged ingredient |
| App languages | English, Arabic, French, German, Malay, Indonesian |
| Price | Free download. Barcode scans always free. 30 free ingredients scans a week. Optional supporter plan from €1.99 / £1.99 / $1.99 a month or €11.99 a year for unlimited ingredients scans |
| Account, ads | No account, no ads |
| Not included | Halal certificate or logo checks, restaurants, prayer times |
Barcode scan
Point the camera at the barcode. The app looks the product up in Open Food Facts, the open food database, and checks every ingredient on its list. Barcode scans are free, with no limit. If the product isn’t there or its list is empty, the app asks for a photo of the ingredients.
Ingredients scan
No barcode, a foreign barcode, or a product nobody has listed? Photograph the ingredient list. AI reads the text, even when it is in Japanese, and the app checks each ingredient against the same table. When one shopper photographs a product, the next one who scans its barcode gets the answer straight away. Photos are kept for 30 days to fix reading mistakes, then deleted.
Four honest answers
- Halal: every ingredient that was checked is permissible in the references.
- Haram: at least one ingredient is not, for example pork, alcohol or E120 (cochineal). The app names it.
- Uncertain: an ingredient can come from a halal or a non-halal source and the pack doesn’t say which, for example E471 or gelatine. The app shows the line and what to look for.
- Not checked: the product isn’t in the records yet or the photo couldn’t be read. A gap is never shown as a pass.
The reason for every flagged ingredient
Each flagged line says what the ingredient is, where it can come from and what the pack would need to say. Where halal bodies or schools disagree, the app follows the most cautious reviewed position and shows the others. How this works: how we decide.
Your halal standard for flavourings
Choose Major halal authorities (tiny alcohol traces from making flavourings are fine, as ruled by the OIC Fiqh Academy, MUI and Malaysia’s fatwa council) or Strict (any flavouring keeps a product Uncertain until the maker confirms it has no alcohol). A flavouring that names alcohol, a drink, meat or cheese counts against a product either way.
Ask the manufacturer
When only the maker can answer, for example where a gelatine or flavouring comes from, tap once and the app writes to them for you, then tells you when they reply.
History, saved products and sharing
Recent scans and products you save stay on your phone, with no account. Share a Halal or Haram result with family from the result screen.
Report a mistake, chat with us
Spotted a wrong answer? Report it in one tap and the fix reaches everyone. You can also chat with the team inside the app.
Languages and large text
The app speaks English, Arabic (right to left), French, German, Malay and Indonesian, and is built to work at large text sizes. This website is in English, French and German.
Prices and limits
The app is free to download, has no ads and needs no account. Barcode scans are always free. Ingredients scans cost us money because AI reads each photo, so you get 30 free a week, with new ones every Friday. An optional Support HFS plan gives unlimited ingredients scans from €1.99 a month or €11.99 a year (£1.99 / $1.99 a month in the UK and US); bigger plans also pay for one or two other people’s scans. The app is the same at every price.
Free on the web
No app needed: paste an ingredient list into the online halal checker, or look any code up in the halal E-numbers list. Both give the same answers as the app.
What it doesn’t do
- It doesn’t check halal certificates or logos. For that, use the certifier, or Verify Halal in Malaysia and BPJPH in Indonesia.
- It can’t see how an animal was slaughtered, so meat, chicken and beef gelatine stay Uncertain unless the pack is certified.
- It has no restaurant finder, prayer times or Qibla. See other apps for those.
- It is guidance from sourced references, not a fatwa and not a certification.
Not to be confused with
Halal Food Scanner is halalfoodscanner.app, "Halal Food Scanner & Check" on the App Store and Google Play. halalfoodscanner.com is a different web app by other people (Zero G Foundry and HalalLaunchpad), and several store apps use similar names. We are not connected to them.
Common questions
Is Halal Food Scanner free?
Yes, it is free to download with no ads and no account. Barcode scans are always free and you get 30 free ingredients scans a week. An optional supporter plan from €1.99 a month gives unlimited ingredients scans.
Does Halal Food Scanner use AI to decide if food is halal?
No. AI only reads the text on the photo. The verdict comes from a reviewed table of E-numbers and ingredients sourced to halal bodies and standards.
Does it work without internet?
No. Looking up a barcode and reading a photo both need a connection.
Which countries does it work in?
Anywhere. Barcode answers depend on Open Food Facts, which is strongest for European products; the ingredients scan reads lists in any language. Guides: Germany, France, UK.
Best-effort guidance compiled from sourced references — not a religious ruling and not a certification. Schools of thought differ, and manufacturers change formulations without notice. Please verify with the producer or your local authority when it matters. How we decide a verdict.