In the United States alone, more than 30 million people are living with a food allergy. This number doesn’t even begin to cover the countless number of people with food intolerances, or those who simply need to avoid a certain food for other dietary reasons.

Living with a food allergy or intolerance can feel very restrictive, especially for those who have been newly diagnosed. If this applies to you, then these food allergy apps can help you to track your symptoms, find safe foods, and learn new recipes.

1. Open Food Facts

While food labelling has undoubtedly improved in recent years, grocery shopping can still feel like a minefield. Food labels are sometimes unnecessarily complicated and at times it can feel like you’re reading a short essay when all you’re trying to find is the allergen list.

Open Food Facts is an easy-to-use barcode scanner app that is designed to help you decipher complex food labels. Although the app wasn’t created with allergens specifically in mind, it does have a couple of allergen-specific features that definitely help to make grocery shopping that little bit easier.

After scanning or searching for a food product, you can navigate to the ingredients tab where you’ll see a rundown of the product ingredients, including any allergens and other additives. From the side menu, you can also set up allergen alerts which will notify you if a product you have scanned contains your chosen allergens.

Open Food Facts is an open database, meaning that it relies on its users to grow the data it holds and to keep everything updated. This means that you can add your own products and help other users if you can't find what you’re looking for within the database.

Download: Open Food Facts for Android | iOS (Free)

2. Find Me Gluten Free

If you have coeliac disease, wheat intolerance, or simply need to avoid gluten, then Find Me Gluten Free can help you to find restaurants that can cater to your requirements.

Using your current location, Find Me Gluten Free will show you nearby restaurants that have a dedicated gluten-free menu or that are able to provide gluten-free bread, pasta, or desserts. Users of the app can add their own ratings and reviews to restaurant listings, helping future visitors to know what they can expect.

The free version of Find Me Gluten Free is a great restaurant locator tool, but to access the “most coeliac friendly” or “open now” filters, you will need to upgrade to a premium yearly membership.

Download: Find Me Gluten Free for Android | iOS (Free, premium version available)

3. Symptom Tracker, Allergy & Food Diary

If you’re struggling to piece together your food allergy symptoms, then the MoodBites Symptom Tracker, Allergy & Food Diary can help you to see patterns between the foods you are eating and how they make you feel.

If you’re looking for a calorie counter like MyFitnessPal then Symptom Tracker isn’t for you. The app doesn’t track nutrition; instead, by logging the foods you eat, your symptoms, and your mood, the app is able to predict trends such as your most common symptoms and which foods tend to trigger adverse reactions.

Basic trend features are available in the free version of the app. But for full access to your stats and predictions, you’ll need to upgrade to a premium monthly or annual subscription.

Download: Symptom Tracker for Android (Free, subscription available)

4. Low FODMAP A-Z Food List

While a FODMAP sensitivity isn’t considered a food allergy, if you’re on a low FODMAP diet then you’ll know that it requires careful management of the foods you eat. The Low FODMAP A-Z Food List app is designed to help people on a low FODMAP diet to navigate everyday foods.

The app gives each food a simple color rating, with red foods containing high levels of FODMAPs, amber foods a medium dose, and green foods a low dose. Generally speaking, red foods should be avoided, amber foods are okay in moderation, and green foods are okay for most people.

By selecting a food, the app then breaks down the FODMAPs it contains, which can help individuals who are particularly sensitive to a specific kind.

At present, the Low FODMAP A-Z Food List focuses on non-branded products but does have some generic foods such as chips, biscuits, and cakes.

Download: Low FODMAP A-Z Food List for Android (Free)

5. Medical ID

As people with severe food allergies know, it only takes a tiny amount of a food allergen to trigger an allergic reaction. In severe cases, this can cause anaphylaxis, which requires emergency intervention.

Medical ID is an app designed to speak for you when you can’t speak for yourself. While setting up the app, you can input important medical information such as any allergies you have, any medications you carry, and even details regarding where you keep them.

In the event of an emergency, this data can be accessed using a widget on your lock screen or home screen. You, or someone you are with, can double-tap the Medical ID symbol even while your phone is locked and it will bring up your medical profile.

From within the app, you can also quickly find nearby hospitals and even bring up location data to share with the emergency services. As far as free medical apps are concerned, Medical ID is easy to use and could save your life.

Download: Medical ID for Android (Free, premium version available)

6. Yummly Recipes

Lastly, Yummly, is a personalized recipe app that will help you to find new and exciting recipes that fit within your dietary requirements.

While setting up your profile, you’ll be able to select any food allergies or intolerances you may have, add any special diets, and even add disliked foods that you’d rather avoid. Using the information you provide Yummly then helps you to find recipes to try.

To help you create recipes using the ingredients you already have to hand, check out the Virtual Pantry, where you can add ingredients you already own and then search for pantry ready recipes.

With more than two million recipes listed on the app, you're bound to find something you’d like to cook, and if you upgrade to the Pro version, then there are cook-along videos that you can follow too.

Download: Yummly Recipes for Android | iOS (Free, premium version available)

Using Apps to Manage Your Food Allergies

Phone apps may not be able to cure your food allergies but they can definitely help to make living with them that little bit safer and easier. These six apps are just a few of the most highly-rated apps that can help you to live with a food allergy or food intolerance.

As food allergies continue to become more prevalent and technology continues to advance, we can’t wait to see where the future of personalized food may be going.