Nutritional Insight: Using OCR to Decode Food Labels for Better Health

In the modern world, making healthy food choices is increasingly important due to the rise in food-related illnesses. Existing tools, such as Nutri-Score and comprehensive food labels, often pose challenges for many consumers. This paper proposes an application that uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technologies to read and interpret food labels, thus upgrading current solutions that rely mainly on reading product barcodes. By using advanced optical character recognition and machine learning techniques, the system aims to accurately extract and analyze nutritional information directly from food packaging without relying on a database of pre-registered products. This innovative approach not only increases consumer awareness, but also supports personalized diet management for diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, while promoting healthier eating habits and better health outcomes. Two minimalist functional prototypes were developed as a result of this work: a desktop application and a mobile application.