Created by a father after his daughter suffered life-threatening allergic reactions, SnackPro helps families quickly identify potential allergens, communicate food safety needs and make better food decisions
WILMINGTON, Del.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–For millions of parents, every snack, restaurant meal or birthday party comes with the same worry: Can my child eat this?
As Food Allergy Awareness Week (FAAW) begins, SnackSafe is launching SnackPro®, a new AI-powered app designed to help families managing food allergies make better food decisions before a routine meal becomes a medical emergency.
Created by a father whose daughter experienced multiple life-threatening allergic reactions, SnackPro is now available on the Apple App Store. It uses AI-powered image analysis to help users identify potential allergens and dietary concerns in packaged foods, restaurant meals and homemade dishes simply by taking a photo.
For founder Allon Mason, developing the app was deeply personal.
“I built this app because my daughter almost died by eating something that we didn’t know she was allergic to,” said Mason. “We knew she was allergic to sesame, but we didn’t know she was also allergic to pistachios and cashews. Following this anaphylactic nightmare, I kept thinking there had to be a faster, easier way for families to get critical food information before a bite turns into an emergency.”
Food allergies affect an estimated 33 million Americans, including roughly one in 13 children, according to Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE). For many families, everyday activities like school lunches, travel, restaurants and social gatherings can create constant stress and risk.
Users simply input their information on the foods they must avoid into SnackPro and then scan packaged foods and even open foods, like restaurant meals or homemade dishes, to be confident the food they are eating is okay for them. The scans will generate one of three results: “contains,” “doesn’t appear to contain,” or “may contain” allergens. Results are personalized to each user.
The app can help identify common allergens such as peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, soy, shellfish, sesame and gluten, while also flagging nutrition and dietary concerns such as high sugar or sodium, saturated fat, vegan, kosher and halal compatibility.
SnackPro includes features designed to help families communicate food allergy and dietary needs more clearly and quickly, including:
- Food label scanning in more than 40 languages
- An in-app allergy card that can be shown to restaurant staff, chefs, servers and caregivers in the local language
- Shareable scan history for parents, caregivers and family members
- Custom bilingual allergy posters for schools, camps and childcare settings (coming soon)
- Voice-enabled allergen input designed for children and non-readers
“Kids who don’t even know how to read and write can speak their allergens into the app,” Mason said. “They just take a picture, and if the food has their allergens, it will show a red alert not to eat it, orange if it’s a warning or green if it appears not to contain any risky ingredients. We wanted to create something simple enough for families to use in stressful moments when every second matters.”
“My dad got the idea for SnackPro when we were in a taxi in France and the driver gave us candy,” said Melissa, Mason’s nine-year-old daughter and SnackPro’s self-proclaimed “Chief Melissa Officer.” “Because of my food allergies, my parents have to check everything I eat. It would take my parents a long time to read the ingredients, and sometimes they were in a different language, so they couldn’t read them at all. When the taxi driver gave me candy, my dad had to take pictures of the wrapper and zoom in really close to read what was in it. So, my dad was like, ‘We should make an app for this.’ And now when we go to a convenience store or a restaurant, and I want to try something, we can use the app, and it just takes seconds. And it’s really accurate.”
SnackPro is free to download and includes 30 free scans. After the free scans, users can continue scanning through paid subscriptions beginning at $7.99 per month, with scan-pack options available in the app. In keeping with its mission to support the food allergy community, SnackPro will also donate 10% of profits to food allergy associations.
SnackPro is now available for download on the Apple App Store.
About SnackPro®
SnackPro® is an AI-powered food scanning app created to help individuals and families navigate food allergies, dietary needs and everyday food decisions with greater confidence. Inspired by founder Allon Mason’s daughter Melissa and her experiences with severe food allergies, SnackPro combines AI-powered food analysis, multilingual allergy communication tools, shareable scan history and family-friendly design to make food information easier to understand and act on. SnackPro is built with HIPAA-grade security and privacy standards, so your food scans, allergies and personal data stay private, secure and under your control.
SnackPro is intended as a support tool only and is not a substitute for reading ingredient labels, consulting medical professionals or directly communicating with restaurants, food manufacturers or caregivers about food preparation and allergen risks.
For more information, visit SnackPro.ai
Contacts
Media Contact:
Smriti Shakargaye
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