Snapchat Adds ‘Food Scan’ to its ‘Scan’ Feature in Partnership with Allrecipes

Snapchat is adding another element to its ‘Scan’ feature with the addition of ‘Food Scan’ in partnership with Allrecipes, which will help Snap users find recipe recommendations by simply scanning in the ingredients that they have available at any given time.

As you can see in this example, the new integration will provide recipe recommendations based on the food item/s you scan in via the Snap camera. You simply line up the item in the Snap camera, then hold down your finger on screen and that will trigger the scan process, and produce relevant recipe matches in response.

That could help to provide more inspiration for your culinary choices, while additional Scan options like ‘Nutrition Scan’ can also give you further insight into the health considerations of packaged foods, which could help you make more healthy choices as well.

This could well prove very popular. Interest in meal-kit delivery services like Blue Apron rose significantly over the last year, and while scanning the food items that you have available in your kitchen won’t guarantee that you have all the elements required to make a full meal, having the capacity to get ideas could be all that some people need to broaden their food horizons, and avoid eating the same things on a rotational basis.

In addition to this, Snap’s Food Scan will also return food facts from Wikipedia, which could be another way to learn more about what you’re eating, further expanding recipe discovery.

Snapchat has been gradually expanding its Scan functionality, with the capacity to now get info on wines by scanning the label, find out more about dog breeds, plants, and music, and get product recommendations based on an image, all through the Snap camera.

The function hasn’t seen as much hype as its trend-leading AR features, but at its most recent Partner Summit event back in May, Snap reported that over 170 million people now use its Scan tool every month. Snap’s total current user base is 500 million 500 million MAU, which would mean that around 34% of Snapchat users regularly look to Scan items through the Snap camera to glean more insight via the option.

Based on that interest, Snapchat’s since moved to put more focus on Scan, by placing it front and center in the app, which could see usage rise even further, while expanded functionality will also get more people looking to use Scan for various needs.

The evolution of Scan goes hand in hand with the shift towards AR, and overlaying digital content onto your real-world view – and Snapchat notes that, eventually, its Scan elements will be integrated into a fully AR-enabled Spectacles experience.

 “Through continued development of Scan, we’re building the next generation of personal computing around the consumer perspective, with information and entertainment immediately accessible as people connect with friends, discovers the world, and gets things done.”  

Snap’s working on that next stage for Spectacles, just as Facebook and others are developing their own AR wearable devices, which will move the interconnection between on and offline to another level entirely.

Eventually, Scan will play a big role in this, with the capacity to run the same scans via your Spectacles, meaning that you could simply tap the button on the side of your glasses to get the same insight in your heads-up display.

As such, it’s not just the immediate functionality that Snap’s building, but the expansion of Scan will facilitate the next level of AR connection, which will eventually make Scan a much important element of the broader Snap offering.

Food Scan is another part of this and of Snap’s ever-expanding mission in AR more broadly.