Point the camera. Get the whole plate.
One photograph is the entire input. Fotocal identifies the dish and the ingredients in it, estimates how much is on the plate, and hands back a complete read: calories, macros, around eight micronutrients, a health score, how processed the food is, its glycemic load, any allergens it can see, a short summary from your coach and one realistic swap. Nothing is saved until you say so.
A photo in, a full picture out.
Home-cooked, restaurant, takeaway or last night's leftovers — the input is always the same, and so is the effort.
Photograph the plate
Whatever is in front of you, however it was made. No good lighting required, no arranging the food, no reference coin next to the bowl.
The AI reads it
It identifies the dish, separates out the ingredients it can see, and estimates the portion from what is on the plate.
Move the portion to match
The estimate is a starting point, not a verdict. Drag it to what you actually ate — or split the dish between the people sharing it and log only your share.
Correct anything, then save
Every detected ingredient can be edited, swapped or removed, and you can add what the camera could not see. It is a draft until you save it.
Nine things, from one photograph.
Most trackers stop at a calorie count. The useful part is usually everything after it.
The dish and its ingredients
Named individually rather than as one blob, so you can see what it thinks it is looking at.
A portion estimate you can move
Read from the plate rather than assumed from an average serving — and adjustable in one gesture if it is off.
Calories and macros
The headline figure plus the protein, carb and fat split behind it.
Around eight micronutrients
Fibre, sugar, sodium, saturated fat and the rest of the picture most calorie trackers leave out entirely.
A health score
One number for how the meal stacks up overall, so you can compare two dishes without reading two tables.
NOVA processing level
How processed the food is — a genuinely different question from how many calories it holds, and one that matters over months.
Glycemic load
How much this particular portion is likely to move your blood sugar, based on the amount actually in front of you.
Allergens
Flagged from the ingredients it detects, so a shared or unfamiliar dish is not a guess.
A coach summary and one swap
A plain-language read on the meal, plus a single specific change that would improve it — not a lecture, one suggestion.
The restaurant plate you cannot look up
No barcode, no label, and no real idea what the kitchen put in it. One photo returns the calories, the score and one specific swap for next time — before the plate has gone cold.
The suggestion knows what else you ate today.
A swap is only worth anything if it fits the rest of your day. Fotocal's recommendations are generated against your actual goals and your actual diary, not against a general idea of healthy eating.
- Your targets come first: the same meal gets different advice if you are cutting, maintaining or building.
- It reads the rest of the day. If you are already short on protein at 8pm, the swap will be about protein.
- It suggests one change, not a rewrite. Something you could realistically do next time, phrased as a choice rather than a rule.
- Everything you scan feeds the Recommendations tab and your Weekly Report, so the advice gets more specific the longer you log.
Questions about photo scanning
How accurate is a photo estimate?
It is an estimate, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. For everyday tracking it is close enough to be useful, and the portion slider closes most of the remaining gap. If a meal really matters, weigh the main component and adjust.
What if it gets an ingredient wrong?
Fix it. Every detected item is editable before you save — change it, re-weigh it, delete it, or add something it missed. Corrections take a couple of seconds and the totals update as you go.
Does it work on restaurant and mixed dishes?
Yes, and that is where it earns its keep. A curry, a stir-fry or a plate of tapas has no barcode and no label, which is exactly the situation database-search apps handle worst.
Is anything logged automatically?
No. A scan produces a draft. Nothing enters your diary, your rings or your totals until you tap save.
Keep reading
The thinking behind the numbers on the screen.
Photograph your next meal and see the whole thing.
Fotocal is free to start, with a 5-day free trial on the paid plans.
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