Good questions, honest answers
Everything people ask before they trust a scan. Allergen alerts are free for everyone, and PlatePal is a screening tool, not a ruling.
What is PlatePal?
PlatePal is a barcode food scanner that checks a packaged product against your faith, lifestyle, and allergen requirements at once and gives one clear verdict. Allergen alerts are free for everyone. It is a screening tool, not a religious or medical ruling.
Is PlatePal a religious or medical ruling?
No. PlatePal is a screening tool that flags ingredients some people avoid. It never issues a ruling. When it really matters, check with your certifying authority or doctor, and always verify the label yourself.
Are allergen alerts really free?
Yes, always. All allergen and gluten or celiac detection is free for everyone and is never placed behind the paywall. Premium unlocks depth and convenience, never safety.
Is PlatePal free?
Yes, to start. Scanning and all allergen and gluten detection are free, and you can begin without an account. Free scanning has a daily limit. An optional Premium subscription adds profile stacking, unlimited scans, compliant-alternative suggestions, and household profiles. Pricing is shown in the app before you buy.
Does PlatePal check halal and kosher?
Yes. Halal and kosher are supported faith profiles, alongside vegetarian, vegan, hindu-vegetarian, and pescatarian. PlatePal screens ingredients and certification marks to flag concerns. It is not a halal or kosher certification, so verify certification yourself when it matters.
Which diets and allergens are supported?
Faith and lifestyle: halal, kosher, vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, and hindu-vegetarian. Allergen and medical: the US Big 9, EU extras (celery, mustard, lupin, sulphites, molluscs), gluten and celiac, and lactose. Oral Allergy Syndrome is available as informational notes.
What happens when there is no data on a product?
We tell you honestly. Instead of an unearned pass you see Insufficient data. On a safety-critical allergen we surface it loudly rather than guess. You can snap a photo of the label so PlatePal can read the ingredients on your device.
How private is my data?
When you are signed out, your dietary profiles, allergens, and scan history stay on your device. Sign in with Apple or Google to sync across devices, and delete everything anytime from Settings, Account, Delete account. PlatePal runs no advertising trackers and does not sell your data. Barcodes are used to look up products. See the privacy policy for detail.
Does the label scanner work on my device?
Yes. When a product has no data on file, you can photograph the ingredients and PlatePal reads the text on your device. Looking up products by barcode or name needs an internet connection.
How is PlatePal different from Yuka and Fig?
Yuka rates how healthy a product is with a score. Fig focuses on allergy, GI, and lifestyle diets with product discovery. PlatePal centers faith plus allergen checking in one combined eligibility verdict, and keeps allergen alerts free. See our PlatePal vs Yuka and PlatePal vs Fig pages.