A food scanner app for kids should check a product against what suits a child. Most scanners, Yuka included, give every shopper the same score, while official advice on added sugar and sodium changes with age. Here is what the main apps score, what the guidance says, and where any scanner stops.
- Sito scores each product for your own child's age; most other scanners give everyone the same score.
- Official advice changes with age: added sugar and sodium guidance differs for a toddler and a teen.
- A scan is a first check: read the label too, especially for allergies.
How Sito's barcode scanner scores food for your child
Scan a barcode, search, or snap a meal. For a packaged product, we give one score out of 100. Nutrition counts for 50 points, additives for 33 and processing for 17, with 4 extra points for an organic label. The score comes with a word for how often it fits the week, such as "Sometimes for Emma."
Then we add your child:
- Under 6. An additive we flag for children moves up one class (one already in our top class stays there), and your child sees that under-6 score in place of the regular one.
- Sugar and sodium. The card compares a serving's added sugars and sodium with your child's own daily limits.
- Allergens. If a product names your child's allergen, the warning comes first and the score sits behind "Show score anyway."
If a label is incomplete, Sito says so rather than guessing a low score, and infant formula and baby milks are never scored. You can see how the number is built and every additive we rate.
Scan a food for your child
Scan a barcode and see a score out of 100 with the additives, added sugar and processing behind it, checked against your child's allergies.
What other food scanner apps score
What each app says it scores, per its own listing or site, checked September 14, 2026.
For eight scanners side by side, see our list of the best food scanner apps.
| App | What it scores | Child-specific (per its listing) | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sito | 0 to 100 score: nutrition 50, additives 33, processing 17, +4 organic | Sodium and added-sugar limits for the child, under-6 additive step, allergen warning | iOS, Android |
| Yuka | 60% nutrition, 30% additives, 10% organic; a high-risk additive caps the score at 49 | None described | iOS, Android |
| NHS Food Scanner | Traffic lights for sugar, salt and fat; "Good choice" badge; swaps | Family focus; AR to help kids understand | iOS, Android (UK) |
| Open Food Facts | Nutri-Score A to E, NOVA 1 to 4 | None described | iOS, Android |
| Bobby Approved | Flags over 100 ingredients | None described | iOS (Android not checked) |
| Fig | Ingredient match to 2,800+ diets and allergies | A profile for each family member (Fig+) | iOS, Android |
| Snack Check | Per-child 0 to 100 "safety score", dyes, allergens, recalls | Age and allergies per child | iOS (its site links only the App Store) |
| KidScan | AI review of baby product ingredients | Newborns to toddlers | iOS (Android not checked) |
Yuka's scoring page makes no mention of age or children; more in Yuka for kids, or read why we built a Yuka alternative for children.
Food barcode scanner apps designed for kids
Snack Check offers a per-child "safety score" for dyes, allergens and recalls; KidScan reviews baby product ingredients with no score; TummyScanner is a game, not a product scanner. Per their listings, none of them scores nutrition, additives and processing together for a child's age, or logs the food into a day's totals. Sito does both.
What "suitable for a child" means in official guidance
Added sugar
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030 (January 2026). From birth to age 4: "Avoid added sugars during infancy and early childhood." For ages 5 to 10: "No amount of added sugars is recommended" (DGA 2025-2030).
- American Heart Association (2017). Its committee found it "reasonable to recommend" that children have 25 g or less of added sugars a day, about 6 teaspoons, and avoid added sugars under age 2 (AHA scientific statement).
The 25 g figure is the AHA's, not the Dietary Guidelines'. The sugars naturally in fruit and plain milk do not count as added sugars (DGA 2025-2030).
Sodium by age
| Age | Sodium per day |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 years | less than 1,200 mg |
| 4 to 8 years | less than 1,500 mg |
| 9 to 13 years | less than 1,800 mg |
| 14 and up | less than 2,300 mg |
Source: Dietary Guidelines 2025-2030. The National Academies (2019) use the same numbers, extrapolated from adults.
Caffeine
The Dietary Guidelines say children 5 to 10 should "avoid caffeinated beverages" (DGA 2025-2030). The American Academy of Pediatrics says caffeine and other stimulants in energy drinks have "no place in the diet of children and adolescents" (AAP clinical report, 2011) and that "avoiding caffeine is the best choice for all kids" (HealthyChildren.org).
Sweeteners
The Dietary Guidelines say no amount of non-nutritive sweeteners is recommended (DGA 2025-2030). The AAP says it is "currently unclear whether there are any long-term health effects from these products on children," and that children with PKU should avoid aspartame (HealthyChildren.org).
Food dyes
- The Dietary Guidelines say to limit foods with petroleum-based dyes (DGA 2025-2030).
- The AAP says artificial food colors "may be associated with worsened attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms" (HealthyChildren.org).
- The FDA revoked authorization for Red No. 3 on January 15, 2025, with a January 15, 2027, deadline. For six other certified dyes, including Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 5, the FDA says it is working closely with industry to eliminate them "by the end of 2027," and notes voluntary commitments from companies (FDA).
How a kid-specific score is different
The %DV on a Nutrition Facts label uses 50 g of added sugars and 2,300 mg of sodium, and 20% DV or more per serving counts as high (FDA). Those values are set for adults and children 4 and older; foods made for children 1 through 3 use 1,500 mg sodium and 25 g added sugars instead (21 CFR 101.9). So a regular pack's %DV reflects an older child's or adult's day, not a toddler's.
In Sito's score:
- One base score. Nutrition uses the published Nutri-Score 2023 point tables with a stricter curve. Added sugars take 4 to 20 points off the nutrition part, from 5 g to 30 g per 100 g. Processing uses the NOVA group. No AI makes the number.
- Additives by class. Our table rates 253 additives with 597 citations. Higher classes cost more points.
- The child layer. We set the under-6 flag "only where the regulator's own intake estimate shows toddlers or young children passing the daily limit on an ordinary diet, or where the regulator wrote about children specifically." Under 2, the card's daily added-sugars limit is 0, so it shows no share of the day.
What no scanner can tell you
- Products that aren't in the database. Even the NHS app says "we're adding more and more products all the time" (NHS Food Scanner).
- Label data that is wrong or old. Researchers note that database curators "cannot ensure the validity of the data reported by the producers" (Lazzari et al., 2018).
- "May contain" lines. In the US, these "are not required by law" (FDA). Yuka says its preference alerts cannot factor in trace amounts of allergens (Yuka developer reply). Our own card says allergen data "is a reason to check the pack, never a substitute for reading it."
- Your child's whole diet. A score describes one product. If you are concerned about your child's diet, talk with your pediatrician (HealthyChildren.org).
Which scanner fits which family
- Checks tied to your child's age and allergies, and a log of what they ate: Sito.
- Allergies: Sito's allergen warning is a first check; read the label every time.
- Curious about additives: Sito's additive table is public, 253 rows with citations. On Yuka, see Yuka for kids.
- Comparing more apps: see kids nutrition apps in 2026.
FAQ
Is Yuka good for kids?
Yuka scores food the same way for everyone, with no age or child setting described (Yuka Help). Our full look is in Yuka for kids.
Can a scanner check allergies?
Only as a first check. In the US, "may contain" lines are not required by law (FDA). In Sito, when a product names your child's allergen, the warning comes before the score; a "may contain" match says "Read the pack"; with no allergen list, the card says it could not check. More in our food allergy app guide.
What if the app doesn't have the product?
Databases are still growing; the NHS app says it keeps adding products (NHS Food Scanner). In Sito, photograph the nutrition panel and we read it, save the product and log it for you, or create a custom food. If a label cannot be verified, Sito tells you rather than guessing.
Sources
- Yuka, App Store listing and developer reply
- Yuka Help: How are food products scored
- Yuka Premium
- Yuka, Google Play
- NHS Healthier Families: NHS Food Scanner
- NHS Food Scanner, App Store (GB)
- Snack Check, App Store listing and site
- KidScan, App Store listing
- Tummy Scanner
- Fig, App Store listing
- Open Food Facts, App Store listing
- Bobby Approved, App Store listing
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030
- National Academies, DRI for Sodium and Potassium (2019), Table S-2
- National Academies, DRI for Sodium and Potassium (2019), Summary
- Vos et al., Added Sugars and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Children, Circulation 2017
- AAP clinical report on sports and energy drinks, Pediatrics 2011
- HealthyChildren.org: The effects of caffeine on kids
- HealthyChildren.org: Sweeteners and sugar substitutes
- HealthyChildren.org: AAP on food additives and child health
- HealthyChildren.org: Picky eaters
- FDA: Daily Value on the Nutrition Facts label
- 21 CFR 101.9
- FDA: Tracking food industry pledges to remove petroleum-based food dyes
- FDA: Food allergies
- Lazzari et al., Front Nutr 2018