📷 BARCODE SCANNER
Scan Any Product
Enter the barcode number from any product — instant results. Sugar content, hidden additives, allergens and crap rating shown in seconds.
Enter Barcode Number
Find the number under the black and white lines on the back of the pack
📱 Tip: On Android, open Google Lens and point it at a barcode — it reads the number automatically. Then type it here. On iPhone, the native Camera app does the same.
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Enter a barcode number above to check any product.
The Crap Rating 💩
Every product gets rated the moment you scan it. No jargon, no hiding behind small print.
✅
Clean
Real ingredients, honest origin. Good to go.
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One Crap
Something's a bit off. Worth a closer look.
💩💩
Two Craps
Additives, mystery ingredients or dodgy origins.
💩💩💩
Triple Crap
Carcinogens, non-EU bulk blending. Leave it on the shelf.
🚨 Most Flagged Products
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💩 Shocking Finds
Products you probably thought were fine
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Wrigley's Extra White Gum
BHA carcinogen · 3 artificial sweeteners · e171 titanium dioxide
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Nutella
56% sugar · palm oil · vanillin artificial flavour
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Müller Corner Yogurt
Hidden sugars · artificial colours · modified starch
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Kellogg's Special K
Marketed as healthy · 17g sugar per 100g · highly processed
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Ireland's Dirty Dozen
12 products you buy every week — and their real ratings
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My Health Score
How clean is your shopping basket?
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💩 Crap Quest
The kids supermarket game! Scan products · score points · learn what's clean vs crap
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Quick Search
Everything Crap App Does
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Sugar & Chemical Detection
Traffic light + 60 hidden names + all sweeteners + nitrites flagged
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Barcode Scanner
Point camera at any product barcode — instant results
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Allergy Guide
Gluten · Corn/Maize · Peanut intolerance checker
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Irish Producers
Verified producers across all 32 counties — North & South
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Gut Health
Probiotics, prebiotics, FODMAP ratings, gut score
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Clean Protein Score
1–100 score for the fit crowd — high protein, zero crap
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Producer Stories Blog
Local stories from small Irish producers across all 32 counties
🍭 SUGAR & CHEMICAL DETECTION
The Sugar Deception
Manufacturers use 60+ names to hide sugar on labels. This is the first thing you see on every product in Crap App — the sugar traffic light, hidden names flagged, and sweeteners identified instantly.
⚠️ Why "Sugar Free" Isn't Always Better
When companies remove sugar they replace it with artificial sweeteners — aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-K. Studies suggest these can disrupt your gut bacteria, trigger cravings and may affect mood and mental health. A 2022 study in Cell found sweeteners like saccharin and sucralose altered gut microbiome composition in healthy adults. Your gut bacteria affect everything — including serotonin, the chemical that makes you feel happy. Up to 90% of your body's serotonin is produced in the gut. Damage it and you damage your mood.
📖 Read the Cell study →
📊 What Does Max Sugar Content Mean?
Every product shows sugar per 100g — this lets you compare fairly. A small chocolate bar might show "5g sugar" on the label, but that's per serving. Per 100g it could be 55g sugar — over half the product is sugar. Crap App always shows the per-100g figure so you can't be misled by tiny serving sizes.
🚦 Traffic Light System — EU Thresholds
Shown on the very first line of every product card
LOW SUGAR
Under 5g per 100g
Safe zone
MEDIUM
5g – 22.5g per 100g
Check serving size
HIGH SUGAR
Over 22.5g per 100g
Avoid or limit
🕵️ 60+ Hidden Names for Sugar
All of these are sugar. Manufacturers use them to push sugar lower down the ingredients list or make it look healthier.
⚠️ Artificial Sweeteners — "Sugar Free" Isn't Always Safe
These appear in 'diet', 'zero sugar' and 'light' products. Some damage gut bacteria. All are flagged in Crap App.
🔍 Search & Check Sugar Content Now
Search Products
Search 83K+ products · Sugar rated · Additives flagged · Irish alternatives shown
Your Intolerances
Tap to toggle — your choices are saved automatically
🌾 Gluten
🥜 Peanuts
🥛 Milk
🥚 Eggs
🌰 Tree Nuts
🐟 Fish
🦐 Crustaceans
🦑 Molluscs
🌱 Soya
🌿 Sesame
🌺 Sulphites
🟡 Lupin
🌻 Celery
🌿 Mustard
🌽 Corn/Maize
🥛 Lactose
☕ Caffeine
🫃 FODMAPs (IBS)
Browse by Category
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Search for any food product.
We'll show sugar content, additives, and Irish alternatives.
Irish Producers Directory
Verified NOVA 1–2 producers across all 26 counties · No ultra-processed · Traceable · Local
List Your Irish Business — Free
NOVA 1–2 verified products only · Takes 5 minutes · No fee
🦠 GUT HEALTH GUIDE
Feed Your Microbiome
Probiotics · Prebiotics · Fermented foods · FODMAP ratings · Gut score on every product
🧠 Your Gut Controls Your Mood
Up to 90% of your serotonin — the chemical that makes you happy — is made in your gut. Damage your gut bacteria and you damage your mental health.
📖 NIH study →
💊 Antibiotics Kill the Good Too
One course of antibiotics can wipe out gut bacteria that take months or years to recover. Rebuild with kefir, live yogurt, sauerkraut and kimchi.
🍽️ Modern Diets Are Destroying Us
Ultra-processed foods make up over 50% of calories in Ireland. Emulsifiers and preservatives disrupt the gut lining causing bloating, inflammation and low mood.
📖 BMJ study →
📊 The NOVA Scale — 4 Levels of Processing
NOVA is the global standard for classifying how processed a food is. Developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo, it's now used by the WHO and governments worldwide.
NOVA 1 — Unprocessed or Minimally Processed ✅
Fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs, milk, plain yogurt, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs. Nature made it — nobody interfered.
Examples: Apple, Chicken Breast, Brown Rice, Fresh Salmon, Plain Oats
NOVA 2 — Processed Culinary Ingredients ⚠️
Oils, butter, flour, salt, sugar, vinegar. Extracted from nature and used in cooking — not eaten alone.
Examples: Olive Oil, Butter, Plain Flour, Sea Salt, Honey
NOVA 3 — Processed Foods ⚠️⚠️
Made by adding salt, sugar or oil to NOVA 1 foods. Usually 2–5 ingredients. Not terrible — but read the label.
Examples: Canned Fish, Cheese, Cured Meat, Freshly Baked Bread, Salted Nuts
NOVA 4 — Ultra-Processed Foods 💩💩💩
Industrial formulations designed to be cheap, hyper-palatable and addictive. Contain ingredients you'd never find in a kitchen. This is where most supermarket food lives.
Examples: Fizzy Drinks, Chicken Nuggets, Instant Noodles, Most Breakfast Cereals, Flavoured Yogurts, Most Crisps
🎭 Tricks Producers Use
Food companies are legally allowed to use these tactics. Most people have no idea they exist.
🥩 The Celery Juice Nitrate Trick
Sodium nitrite is a known carcinogen linked to bowel cancer. Producers who want to label their meat as "no artificial nitrates" simply use celery juice or celery powder instead — which is naturally very high in nitrates. The nitrates are identical. The cancer risk is identical. But the label says "natural ingredients only." CRAP App flags celery juice in processed meats.
🌿 "Natural Flavouring" — Meaningless
Under EU law, "natural flavouring" can mean almost anything derived from a natural source — including beaver anal glands (castoreum, used in vanilla flavouring), coal tar derivatives, and industrially processed plant extracts. It tells you nothing about whether it's safe, healthy or appetising. When you see "natural flavouring" it means a factory added something to make the food taste better than its real ingredients would allow.
🍞 Bleached Flour
Freshly milled flour is yellowish. Producers bleach it white using benzoyl peroxide, chlorine dioxide or azodicarbonamide. Azodicarbonamide is also used to make yoga mats. It's banned in the EU but widely used in the US. In Europe, flour is typically aged naturally — but check labels for "E927" or "E928".
🧂 Anti-Caking Agents in Salt
Table salt flows freely because of anti-caking agents like sodium ferrocyanide (E535) — also called Yellow Prussiate of Soda. It's approved at low levels but is derived from industrial processes involving cyanide compounds. Sea salt and rock salt don't need it. Check your salt label.
🎨 E150d — The Caramel Colour Problem
Sulphite ammonia caramel (E150d) is the dark brown colouring in most colas, sauces and some breads. It's made by reacting sugars with ammonia and sulphites under high pressure. The process produces 4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) — a possible carcinogen. California requires cancer warnings on products with significant 4-MEI levels. The EU allows it freely. CRAP App flags E150d.
💉 "Flavour Enhancers" — Addiction Engineering
Yeast extract, hydrolysed vegetable protein, disodium glutamate (MSG) and disodium inosinate are flavour enhancers engineered to make food taste more intense. They stimulate glutamate receptors in your brain — the same receptors activated by addictive substances. Food scientists use them to make cheap, low-quality ingredients taste premium. The goal is repeat purchase, not nutrition.
🧪 Hexane Extraction
Most vegetable and seed oils (soy, sunflower, rapeseed) are extracted using hexane — an industrial petroleum-derived solvent also found in petrol. Residues remain in the final product at trace levels. Cold-pressed and expeller-pressed oils don't use hexane. The label rarely mentions it — look for "cold pressed" or "expeller pressed" to avoid it.
🌽 Modified Starch — What Does "Modified" Mean?
"Modified" doesn't mean genetically modified — it means chemically or physically altered. Starches are treated with acids, bleaches, oxidising agents or phosphates to change their texture. Phosphorylated distarch phosphate (E1412) and acetylated distarch phosphate (E1414) are among the most common. They're cheap thickeners used to replace real food. CRAP App flags modified starches.
☢️ Irradiated Food
Some spices, dried herbs, and certain meats are irradiated with gamma rays to kill bacteria and extend shelf life. EU law requires irradiated food to be labelled "treated with ionising radiation" — but this is rarely enforced. The Radura symbol (a green circle with a plant) should appear on packaging. Evidence on long-term effects is limited.
🏭 Titanium Dioxide (E171) — Now Banned in EU
Titanium dioxide (E171) was used as a whitening agent in sweets, chewing gum, toothpaste and some foods. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded it cannot be considered safe after evidence it may damage DNA. It was banned in the EU in 2022. It's still used in the UK and US — and products made before the ban may still be on shelves. CRAP App flags E171.
⚗️ Processing Chemicals CRAP App Flags
These are automatically detected on every scan and search. When found, they appear as a flag on the product card.
🧪 Bleaching Agents
Benzoyl peroxide (E928), chlorine dioxide, azodicarbonamide (E927), potassium bromate (E924), bleached flour. Used to whiten flour and oils.
🧂 Anti-Caking Agents
Silicon dioxide (E551), sodium aluminosilicate (E554), sodium ferrocyanide (E535). Added to powders and salts to stop clumping.
⚗️ Industrial Solvents
Hexane (used in oil extraction), propylene glycol (E1520). Petroleum-derived chemicals used in food manufacturing.
🥩 Nitrates & Nitrites
Sodium nitrite (E250), sodium nitrate (E251), potassium nitrite (E249), celery juice/powder (natural nitrate trick). Linked to bowel cancer.
🧬 Artificial Preservatives
BHA (E320), BHT (E321), TBHQ (E319), sodium benzoate (E211), propyl gallate (E310). Extend shelf life but some are carcinogenic.
🏭 Processing Aids
Dimethylpolysiloxane (E900), mineral oil, paraffin wax (E905). Industrial chemicals used in production that can remain in food.
🎨 Artificial Colours
Full E100–E180 range including ammonia caramel (E150c), sulphite ammonia caramel (E150d), titanium dioxide (E171 — banned in EU 2022).
☣️ Hormone Disruptors
BPA, phthalates, styrene — from food packaging that can leach into food.
☢️ Irradiation
Food treated with ionising radiation (gamma rays) to kill bacteria and extend shelf life.
🧬 GMO Indicators
Genetically modified ingredients — required to be labelled in EU.
💡 The 5-Ingredient Rule
If a product has more than 5 ingredients — especially if you can't pronounce them — it's probably ultra-processed. Real food doesn't need a chemistry lab to make it taste good. The longer the ingredient list, the more the manufacturer has had to compensate for the lack of real food.
Butter: Cream. Salt.
2 ingredients ✅
2 ingredients ✅
Margarine: 12+ ingredients
Mostly chemicals ⚠️
Mostly chemicals ⚠️
Porridge: Oats.
1 ingredient ✅
1 ingredient ✅
Instant porridge sachet: 15+ ingredients
Ultra-processed ⚠️
Ultra-processed ⚠️
🌾🌽🥜 ALLERGY & INTOLERANCE GUIDE
The 18 Allergens & Intolerances
We flag all 18 major allergens and intolerances to be declared on food labels — but they still hide under dozens of sneaky names. Crap App flags them all.
🌾 Gluten · 🥜 Peanuts · 🥛 Milk · 🥚 Eggs · 🌰 Tree Nuts · 🐟 Fish · 🦐 Crustaceans · 🦑 Molluscs · 🌱 Soya · 🌿 Sesame · 🌺 Sulphites · 🟡 Lupin · 🌻 Celery · 🌿 Mustard · 🌽 Corn/Maize
💡 All 18 allergens and intolerances are automatically flagged on every product card across the app — in Search, Scan, Sugar, Gut Health and Protein sections. No need to set anything up.
✅ Certified Gluten-Free Products in Ireland
💩 IRELAND'S DIRTY DOZEN
Ireland's 12 Most Bought Worst Rated Products
These are products most Irish families buy every week — and most have no idea what's actually in them. Share this page. Tell your friends. Read the label.
🏆 MY HEALTH SCORE
How Clean Is Your Shopping?
Based on the products you've scanned, we give your shopping basket a health score out of 100. Improve it over time.
📖 LOCAL PRODUCER STORIES
The People Behind Your Food
Stories from small Irish producers across all 32 counties — the farmers, fishers, cheesemakers and bakers doing it the right way. Real food, real people, real places.
📝 Are you an Irish producer?
We'd love to tell your story. Crap App is free to list on — we're here to shine a light on small Irish food producers doing things the right way. Get in touch and we'll feature you.
🛒 My Shopping List
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Shopping List Analyser
Paste your shopping list and we'll rank every option from cleanest to worst — with our top pick highlighted
Database Overview
What Crap App checks on every product scan
Key Additives Flagged 🚩
🏆 LOCAL HEROES
Support Local
Real food from real people. Butchers, bakeries, farm shops, delis and fishmongers across every county in Ireland. Skip the supermarket — know where your food comes from.
Munster
Leinster
Connacht
Ulster
Are you a local food hero?
Get your business listed for free. We'll feature your products and help local customers find you.
📧 Get Listed Free
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Clean Protein Score
1–100 score for the fit crowd. High protein + no bad stuff = high score. Sugars, fillers, chemicals, artificial colours all knock points off.
💪 The Protein Marketing Trap
Everything has "high protein" on it now. But most protein bars and cereals are loaded with sweeteners, fillers and colours to hide the taste. There's no point hitting your protein target if you're damaging everything else. Clean gains means clean ingredients.
🥩 Real Clean Protein
Eggs · Meat · Fish · Greek yogurt · Cottage cheese · Lentils. One ingredient, high score. That's the goal.
70–100
💪 CLEAN GAINS
40–69
⚡ DECENT
1–39
❌ SKIP IT
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Get Better Deals from Local Heroes
Ask your local butcher or fishmonger about protein packs — often cheaper, fresher and no additives. Many offer weekly deals.
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