FoodWise

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Inspiration

Food allergies, dietary restrictions, and health conditions make food choices complicated. We wanted to create a smart, accessible way to scan any food product and instantly know whether it fits your personal lifestyle, diet, or medical needs.

What it does

FoodWise is a web-based personalized food scanner that allows users to:

Scan food barcodes using camera or upload images

Get real-time nutritional insights (calories, fat, sugar, etc.)

Detect compatibility with custom dietary preferences and allergies

Provide AI-driven health advice for specific conditions (e.g., diabetes)

Rate food with a Nutrition Score (A to F)

How we built it

Frontend: React + Vite for fast, responsive UI

Backend: Node.js + Express.js REST API

Database: MongoDB to store scanned history and user profiles

External API: Open Food Facts API for food metadata

Barcode Scanning: HTML5 QR Code & QuaggaJS

CSS: Custom responsive design for mobile and desktop

Challenges we ran into

Handling mirrored camera video streams on certain browsers

Matching ingredient texts with custom allergy terms accurately

Adapting UI for both mobile and desktop environments

Ensuring Open Food Facts API was reliable during testing (downtime issues)

Making scan results understandable to non-technical users

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a fully functional personalized food compatibility system

Seamlessly integrated live barcode scanning and AI-based health logic

Created a clean, intuitive interface that works across devices

Delivered real-time dietary advice based on user inputs

What we learned

How to integrate 3rd party APIs into real-world health applications

Importance of clear, accessible UI for users with medical conditions

Handling camera APIs and scanner libraries effectively

Applying basic AI logic to enhance user decision-making

What's next for FoodWise

🧠 AI-based food recommendation engine

🧾 OCR-based ingredient scanning from product labels

🧬 Integration with wearable health trackers (e.g., Fitbit)

🌐 Multi-language support for global users

📱 Launch as a cross-platform PWA (Progressive Web App)

Built With

• axios
• concurrently
• css3
• dotenv
• express.js
• github
• html5-qr-code
• javascript
• mongodb
• mongoose
• node.js
• nodemon
• open-food-facts-api
• quaggajs
• react
• vite