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Using the Menu scanner

Point your camera at a restaurant menu and VitalPlate reads the dishes and shows which ones fit your plan — with a verdict and reasons for each.

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Eating out? The Menu scanner helps you choose with confidence. Point your camera at a restaurant menu and VitalPlate reads the dishes and shows which ones fit your plan.

How to scan a menu

  1. 1Open the Menu scanner.
  2. 2Point your camera at the menu so the dish names and descriptions are in frame.
  3. 3Let VitalPlate read the text and list the dishes it found.
  4. 4Review the verdict beside each dish.

Reading the verdicts

Each dish gets one of three verdicts, the same tiers used everywhere in VitalPlate, with the reasons behind it:

VerdictWhat it means
Good fitNo flags against your plan — a safe pick.
CautionWorth a second look; tap to see what raised the flag.
AvoidConflicts with your plan; the reasons explain why.

For more on what these tiers mean, see Understanding your food scores.

Drop a dish onto your plan

Found something you want? You can drop a chosen dish straight onto a day in your plan, so your meal out is reflected alongside the rest of your week.

The scanner does a best-effort read of the menu text. Menus can be stylised, photographed at an angle, or vague about how a dish is prepared, so a verdict is only as good as what it could read. When a dish matters for your health, ask your server about ingredients and preparation.
VitalPlate is decision support, not medical advice. Use the verdicts as a helpful nudge, not the last word.

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