Press and partnerships
We are happy to assist journalists and other stakeholders with questions about UK food products and what they contain.
Through our work with The Food App, we have extensive insight into which foods are ultra-processed and which contain controversial additives such as maltodextrin, carrageenan, and others.
The Grocer used our app in its coverage of M&S’s Only 9 Ingredients rolls being flagged as ultra-processed. Food Manufacture also published an article written by our nutritionist explaining why some food scanner apps are not evidence-based.
Press contact
Krishan Totland
Email: krishan@beneficial.no
Phone: +47 954 45 805
Data for research and NGOs
We are in ongoing dialogue with several leading research institutions in both the UK and Norway about sharing data on food products and usage patterns from The Food App. For example, we will provide data to Imperial College London for its research on ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
Various charities and foundations are also using insights from our database. For example, we developed The Palm Oil Guide in collaboration with Rainforest Foundation Norway and The Real Bread Guide in collaboration with Sustain.
Key figures
"Trygg Mat" (The Food App's local Norwegian name) is Norway’s most widely used app for identifying ultra-processed food, with over 70,000 monthly active users in total.
Since its launch in spring 2024, the app has been downloaded over 400,000 times.
Every day more than 10,000 foods are scanned in the app. At peak times, one product is scanned every 2 seconds.
The app was primarily developed for the Norwegian market, but in November 2025 it was also launched in UK under the name The Food App. As of August 2026, the app has already over 45,000 users in the UK.
The company and people behind it
The Food App is developed by the company Beneficial Apps in Bergen, Norway. The founder is Tormund Gerhardsen and co-founder Krishan Totland.
The core team working on the app consists of 5 people in total.
The company is fully owned by the founders, and the app is funded through user payments for the Plus subscription.
Co-founder Krishan Totland (left) and founder Tormund Gerhardsen (right) at Beneficial Apps, developer of The Food App.
The Food App
The Food App is designed for anyone who wants to avoid or highlight specific food products. This includes people with food intolerances, those who want to eat more nutritiously, or avoid ultra-processed food. Scan the barcode of a product or search by name to see whether it meets your self-defined criteria.
Freemium model: It is completely free to download the app and scan food products. Additional functionality such as searching by name, browsing categories and swap suggestions is available with a Plus subscription at £3.49/month or £24.90/year.
Find out if the food is ultra-processed, for free
In The Food App you can scan and search among thousands of UK products 🇬🇧
Images
Images may be freely used in relevant contexts where we are featured, with proper credit. Click the images for full resolution.
Photo: Ben Harding / The Food App
Founder Tormund Gerhardsen
Co-founder Krishan Totland
Krishan Totland (left) and Tormund Gerhardsen (right)
Tormund using The Food App