Support Center

Baleen uses a multi-layered approach to identify allergens in food products:

1. Scan the barcode — Point your camera at a product's barcode to instantly look it up in our database of 850,000+ products.

2. No barcode? Take a photo — If the product doesn't have a barcode, photograph the front of the package. Baleen's AI identifies the product and searches our database for full ingredient data.

3. Get your results — Baleen matches every ingredient against your dietary profile and flags anything that may be a concern.

Our allergen detection engine maps over 100,000+ ingredient-to-allergen relationships, catching not just obvious allergens but also hidden synonyms and derivatives. For example, Baleen knows that "casein" is a dairy derivative and that "semolina" contains gluten.

Baleen uses AI in three key ways:

1. Ingredient Analysis — When you scan a product, our AI-powered engine analyzes ingredients against your dietary profile to identify potential concerns. This goes beyond simple keyword matching to understand ingredient relationships and context.

2. Product Identification — When you photograph a product without a barcode, AI identifies the brand and product name, searches our database, and gives you results without needing to type anything.

3. Conversational Setup — When setting up your dietary filters, you can describe your needs in plain language (like "I'm lactose intolerant" or "I follow SCD") and our AI assistant will help translate that into the right filters.

When analyzing ingredients, we send product ingredient lists and your dietary preferences to the AI — we never send your email, name, payment information, or location data.

Baleen is currently available on iOS in the United States. We plan to expand to additional platforms and regions in the future.

Baleen's core product scanning, dietary filters, scan history, and AI chat are all free for everyone. For favorites, family pods, and shared features, we offer a Premium subscription at $4.99/month or $39.99/year. See the Subscriptions section below for details.

Baleen is designed to be a helpful tool for identifying potential allergens, but it should not be your only line of defense:

• Always read the actual label. Baleen is a supplement to — not a replacement for — reading ingredient labels yourself.

• Manufacturers change formulations. A product that was safe last month may have changed its ingredients. When in doubt, re-scan.

• Cross-contamination is not always listed. "May contain" and shared facility warnings are voluntary in the US and may not appear in our database.

• Consult your allergist. For severe allergies, always work with your healthcare provider to develop a comprehensive safety plan.

Baleen is a powerful tool to make scanning faster and more thorough, but your health and safety ultimately depend on vigilance beyond any single app.

• Subscribe — Our Premium subscription keeps Baleen running and improving.

• Share feedback — Found a bug? Have a feature idea? Use the in-app Report button or email us directly.

• Spread the word — Tell friends, family, or anyone who shops with allergens in mind.

• Report incorrect data — If you scan a product and something looks wrong, let us know so we can fix it for everyone.

Baleen's product database is built from publicly available food product data, including Open Food Facts and the USDA's FoodData Central database, enriched with additional allergen and nutrition information from user-submitted scans. We continuously process and update this data to improve accuracy and coverage.

Yes. Baleen is built with an offline-first architecture. The allergen dictionary and ingredient mappings are stored locally on your device, so you can scan products even without an internet connection — especially useful in grocery stores with poor cell reception.

Some features require an internet connection: AI-powered ingredient analysis for complex cases, product photo identification, syncing your profile across devices, and submitting new products to our database.

Dietary filters are personalized settings that tell Baleen which allergens, intolerances, and dietary preferences to watch for when you scan a product. Once set up, every scan is automatically checked against your filters so you get instant, personalized results.

Baleen organizes filters into four categories:

• Allergies — Immune-mediated reactions (e.g., peanut allergy, shellfish allergy). These show "may contain" warnings for cross-contamination risks.

• Medical Conditions — Health conditions requiring dietary restrictions (e.g., celiac disease, SCD, PKU). These also show "may contain" warnings.

• Intolerances — Digestive sensitivities (e.g., lactose intolerance, gluten sensitivity). These show "may contain" warnings.

• Preferences — Lifestyle or ethical choices (e.g., vegan, vegetarian, avoiding artificial colors). These do not show "may contain" warnings since cross-contamination is typically not a concern.

Baleen supports the nine major allergens recognized by the FDA under the FASTER Act: Milk (dairy), Eggs, Fish, Shellfish (crustacean), Tree nuts, Peanuts, Wheat, Soybeans, and Sesame.

Beyond the major allergens, Baleen also supports:

• Additional allergens — Mustard, Celery, Sulfites, Lupin, and Corn (with separate primary and derivative tiers)

• Medical & therapeutic diets — Low FODMAP, Low Histamine, SCD, AIP, Low Tyramine, MCAS, Low Salicylate, Nightshade-Free, Low Purine, GERD, CKD/Renal, Candida, Low Nickel, PKU, Lectin-Free, Low Oxalate, Whole30, and Carnivore — each with ingredient-level analysis

• Cultural & religious diets — Halal, Kosher, Jain, and Seventh-day Adventist (SDA)

• Specific ingredient avoidance — Avoid any ingredient or ingredient category you need to

If there's something you need to avoid that you don't see, let us know — we're always expanding our coverage.

This is one of Baleen's core strengths. Many allergens hide behind unfamiliar names on ingredient labels:

• Dairy can appear as casein, whey, lactalbumin, ghee, and dozens of other terms

• Wheat/Gluten can appear as semolina, durum, spelt, farina, and more

• Soy can appear as lecithin, edamame, textured vegetable protein, etc.

Baleen maintains a comprehensive mapping of 100,000+ ingredient-to-allergen relationships so you don't have to memorize every possible name for your allergens.

You can update your filters at any time from the profile screen in the app. Tap the account icon in the top right corner, then tap "Edit" next to your dietary preferences. You can also use the Baleen AI chat to add or change filters conversationally.

Baleen offers two tiers:

• Free — Unlimited product scanning, personalized dietary filters, scan history, and AI chat. Everything you need to scan and check products against your dietary profile.

• Premium — $4.99/month or $39.99/year — Everything in Free, plus: favorites to save products for quick reference; Pods to manage multiple profiles for family members or friends with different dietary needs; and shared features across your household.

A Pod lets you manage allergen profiles for your whole household in one place. This is especially helpful when different people have different dietary needs. Pods are included with a Premium subscription.

• Create managed profiles — Add profiles for children or family members who don't have their own phone. Each profile gets its own dietary filters.

• Invite members — Send email invitations to family members so they can join your pod with their own Baleen account.

• Scan for everyone — Switch between scanning for yourself, a specific profile, or everyone in your pod at once.

• Share favorites — When someone in your pod saves a product, everyone can see it.

Our core scanning feature is free and always will be. We charge for premium features because maintaining a database of 850,000+ products, processing allergen mappings, powering AI features, and continuously improving the app requires real, ongoing resources. Subscriptions allow us to keep building without selling your data or showing ads.

Baleen subscriptions are managed through your Apple ID: Open the Settings app on your iPhone → Tap your name at the top → Tap Subscriptions → Find Baleen and tap Cancel Subscription.

You'll continue to have access to Premium features until the end of your current billing period.

Refunds are handled by Apple. To request a refund, visit reportaproblem.apple.com and follow the instructions for the Baleen purchase you'd like refunded.

When you scan a product, Baleen shows you a clear result based on your dietary profile:

• Passes Your Filters — No ingredients in this product match your dietary filters.

• Does Not Pass Your Filters — One or more ingredients match your filters. Baleen shows exactly which ingredients triggered the flag and which allergens they're associated with.

• Warning — The product has cross-contamination advisories ("may contain", shared facility, shared equipment) for one of your filters.

All users get personalized results matched against their dietary filters.

Baleen distinguishes between different levels of allergen risk:

• Contains — The product directly contains ingredients matching your filters. Highest risk level.

• May Contain — The product has a cross-contamination warning (e.g., "may contain traces of peanuts" or "manufactured on shared equipment").

• Shared Facility — Made in a facility that also processes your allergen, but doesn't directly contact shared equipment. Lower risk level.

• Free From — The product explicitly states it's free from certain allergens. Baleen highlights these as positive indicators.

For allergies, medical conditions, and intolerances, Baleen shows all warning levels. For preferences (like vegan or vegetarian), "may contain" warnings are typically not shown since cross-contamination is usually not a concern for lifestyle choices.

Yes. When a product has relevant certifications, Baleen displays them prominently, including: Gluten-Free (GFCO, NSF, etc.), USDA Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, Kosher (OU, OK, Star-K, etc.), Vegan/Vegetarian certified, and Halal.

Certifications can provide additional confidence, especially for allergens where cross-contamination is a concern.

If a barcode scan doesn't find a match, Baleen will guide you through taking photos of the product. The app uses AI to read ingredient labels, extract allergen information, and check it against your dietary profile. Products you scan are submitted to our database to help expand coverage for everyone.

Yes. Tap the shutter button on the scan screen, then choose your item type. For packaged products, take a photo of the front and Baleen's AI will identify it and search our database. For single ingredients or homemade dishes, the AI chat will walk you through checking them against your filters.

Baleen's barcode scanner is highly reliable for products in our database. However, accuracy depends on a few factors:

• Database coverage — Our database includes 850,000+ products, but not every product will be included, especially newer, regional, or specialty items.

• Formulation changes — Manufacturers occasionally change ingredients. Use the photo scanner to verify against the physical label.

• Regional variations — The same brand may use slightly different formulations in different regions.

When the barcode scan and the physical label disagree, always trust the physical label.

Favorites let you save products you've scanned for quick reference later — no need to re-scan something you buy regularly. Available with a Premium subscription. Pod members share favorites so everyone knows what's been checked.

Scan History keeps a record of everything you've scanned so you can go back and review past results. Useful for remembering whether you've checked a product before and what the result was.

Baleen is designed with privacy in mind:

• Stored on your device — Your dietary profile, favorites, and scan history are stored locally.

• Synced securely — Your data is synced securely so you don't lose it if you change devices.

• AI processing — When using AI-powered features, we send ingredient lists and dietary preferences to Anthropic for analysis. We never send your email, name, payment information, or location data.

• No data sales — We never sell your personal data or health information to third parties.

• No ads — Baleen does not show advertisements.

An account is required to use Baleen. You can sign up using Sign in with Apple (quick and private, with the option to hide your email), Sign in with Google (use your existing Google account), or email and password.

An account allows us to back up your profile, sync across devices, and enable subscription features.

Open the Baleen app → Tap the account icon → Tap "Manage Account" → Tap "Delete Account" → Confirm the deletion.

This will permanently remove your account, dietary profile, scan history, favorites, and any Pod data you own. This action cannot be undone.

Make sure the barcode is well-lit, in focus, and centered in the scanning guide. Hold the camera steady about 6-8 inches from the barcode. Clean the camera lens. Try a different angle if there's glare on the packaging. If the product still isn't found, tap the shutter button to photograph the product instead.

Double-check the ingredient list on the physical product against the flagged ingredients in the app. If you believe the flag is incorrect, please report it using the Report button on the product detail screen — this helps us improve for everyone.

Common reasons for unexpected flags: the ingredient is a derivative or synonym you weren't aware of; the product formulation may have changed since you last checked; there may be a "may contain" or facility warning you missed on the label.

Use the Report button on the product detail screen, or email us at hello@trybaleen.com with the product name, barcode (if available), and a description of the issue. We take data accuracy seriously and will investigate promptly.

• Subscription not activating — Try restoring purchases from the subscription settings in the app. Make sure you're signed into the same Apple ID you used to purchase.

• Charged incorrectly — Visit reportaproblem.apple.com to dispute charges with Apple.

• Can't cancel — Subscriptions must be canceled through your iPhone's Settings app, not within Baleen.

If you're still having trouble, email us at hello@trybaleen.com and we'll help sort it out.

• Email: hello@trybaleen.com

• Website: trybaleen.com