Calorie tracking in UK
The AI calorie tracker that knows British food.
British eating sits awkwardly between two database traditions. Packaged food is labelled to UK standards, but a great deal of what people actually eat — a chicken tikka masala from the local takeaway, a Sunday roast, a meal deal assembled from three separate items — has no single entry anywhere.
The problem
Why generic trackers struggle here.
- Takeaway curry houses cook with far more oil, butter and cream than any restaurant-chain database entry assumes.
- A roast dinner is six components on one plate, which becomes six searches in a conventional tracker.
- Portions are described in nothing standard at all — a "portion" of chips varies enormously by shop.
BetterCal takes a different route. There is no database to search — you describe the meal in plain words, and the estimate is made against how that food is actually cooked and served in the United Kingdom: the ingredients, the cooking fats, the serving vessel and the portion size.
Reference
British food, roughly counted.
Ranges rather than single numbers, because home and restaurant versions of the same dish differ enormously — mostly in cooking fat. Use these as a starting point, then correct against your own kitchen.
| Dish | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken tikka masala, takeaway | 1 portion | 600–900 |
| Fish and chips | 1 portion | 800–1,200 |
| Full English breakfast | 1 plate | 800–1,100 |
| Sunday roast with all trimmings | 1 plate | 800–1,200 |
| Bacon sandwich | 1 | 400–550 |
| Jacket potato with beans and cheese | 1 | 500–650 |
| Sausage roll | 1 | 300–400 |
| Tea with milk | 1 mug | 20–40 |
| Pint of lager | 1 | 180–250 |
| Digestive biscuit | 1 | 70–85 |
Voice logging
Say a whole British meal out loud.
Tap the microphone and describe the plate the way you would to a person — "chicken tikka masala, takeaway, fish and chips and full english breakfast". BetterCal transcribes it, separates every dish, and writes the lot into your day with calories and macros.
One recording covers the whole meal, however many items are in it. You see the transcript before anything is saved, so a misheard dish name is obvious rather than buried inside a number.
Journal logging
Or type it like a note.
Write what you ate the way you would text a friend. No search box, no results list to choose from, no serving-size picker to scroll — just a line of plain text that turns into a logged meal.
It is the faster option when you are somewhere quiet, and it works just as well hours after the meal. Anything you log often is saved automatically, so the second time round it is a single tap and costs nothing.
Details
Portions and diets.
Serving units. Describe portions the way you normally would — portions, slices, mugs, pints, grams all work. You do not need to convert anything into grams first.
Diets. Vegetarian and vegan options are widely available and clearly labelled. Halal is common in many areas. BetterCal supports vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, eggetarian and everything.
Corrections stick. If a dish is made differently in your household, adjust it once and BetterCal remembers. Over a few weeks the estimates converge on your kitchen rather than an average of everyone else's.
Frequently asked questions
Can I log British food by voice?
Yes. Hold the microphone, describe the meal in your own words, and it is transcribed and logged with calories and macros. One recording handles several dishes at once, and you can review the transcript before it saves.
Can I type instead of speaking?
Yes — the journal takes plain typed sentences in exactly the same way. Most people mix the two: voice at home, typing when they are somewhere quiet or logging a meal after the fact.
Does it handle takeaway food?
Yes, and this is where it is most useful. Say "chicken korma and a naan from the takeaway" and it estimates against how takeaway food is actually cooked, not a lighter restaurant-chain version.
Can I log in stones and pounds?
Weight can be set to kilograms or pounds. Enter stones as the equivalent in pounds.
Does it know supermarket own-brand items?
Name the item and the shop and it does a reasonable job. Correct it once if the estimate is off and the correction is remembered.
How much does it cost in UK?
Free to download, with 20 AI meal logs a day at no cost. Meals already in your memory are always free to log again, however often you repeat them. See what is free.
Do I need to photograph my food?
No. BetterCal has no camera and no barcode scanner. You log by speaking or typing, which means you can log a meal after you have eaten it rather than having to remember beforehand.
Start today
Log British food in one sentence.
Free to start on iPhone and Android.
