Here are some free smart phone apps to help you identify GMO-free products when shopping.

Note: so far I’ve found no smart phone apps that address non-GMO sources for Canada. If you know of one, please comment below.

1) The Center for Food Safety offers a True Food Shopper’s Guide for the iPhone and Android.

2) Non-GMO Project Shopping Guide gives you a handy list of all of the products that have received the Non-GMO Project Certification.

3) FooduCate allows you to scan a product bar code to identify GMOs and other potentially harmful ingredients.

4) NxtNutrio also allows you to scan a product bar code to identify GMOs and other potentially harmful ingredients, then they take it one step further, allowing you to set up a profile for healthy food, allergies, gluten and other food sensitivities, and even make a comment on a product.

5) BuyCott (versus boycott) allows you to scan barcodes to identify if a brand is one of the organic food companies that was in support California’s GMO labeling measure. It can also be used to boycott anti-GMO labeling companies if that’s your thing. NOTE: one of our blog readers discovered a serious error in BuyCott’s information, where a privately-owned, anti-GMO company was shown as being owned by a pro-GMO, anti-labeling-donating corporation. Whether this was a fluke or whether BuyCott is having difficulty managing correct information is unknown.

6) IPIIT the Food Ambassador (available for android and iphone) allows you to designate the ingredients you wish to avoid (including GMOs, specific food allergens, or other harmful ingredients), and scan the product’s bar code to find out if the product contains any of those ingredients. If it does, the app provides suggestions on better / alternative products. Better yet, the database of product recommendations keep growing as users contribute.

7) Check GMO is a relatively new app that scans bar codes to tell you if the item contains GMOs. There is both a free and a $1.99 version. The company is also encouraging restaurants to submit information about their food sources / menus, and it’s offering product testing for GMO-free verification.

8) ChemicalMaze by Gridstone doesn’t focus on GMOs, rather it helps you identify a wide variety of “dangerous food additives and cosmetics,” along with the ability to filter the source of the danger (including a filter for genetically modified ingredients). There is both a free and a paid version, with different features depending on the price.

9) GMO Checker “helps you find products that are healthy for you by highlighting products that are Organic, Vegan, Gluten Free, and GMO Free.”

10) Clueatapp is the latest in the line-up of bar code-scanning smart phone apps that tell you more about your food ingredients, supposedly including GMO ingredients, claims one of our commenters. We have yet to verify…

NOTE:  PLU and Bar Code Readers: don’t be fooled into thinking you can identify a genetically modified ingredient based on its PLU code (despite countless articles claiming this). YES there is a code, and YES the first number of the code does signify the source of the item (whether organic, conventional, or GMO). However this PLU system is entirely voluntary, and no GMO manufacturer has ever added it to their labeling.

Last but not least, you’ll find even more food-related apps (e.g., identifying safe seafood, wild edibles, foods with the most pesticide residues, etc.) reviewed in this article.

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