Revision #1195: Food search

Author

Patrick Bass

Submitted

Sep 12, 2026 9:06pm

Summary

Food lookup: the order Loopa asks in, searching offline, and what a report now does

Food search is how you find what you ate fast. Loopa searches a large food database as you type and fills in the calories, serving size, and macros for you, so logging is a couple of taps. When nothing matches, mobieusAI can estimate it instead.

''General wellness tracking, not medical advice.''

== How to search ==

On the [[Logging food|Food and macros]] page, start typing in the '''Search a food''' box.

1. Enter two or more letters, for example "chicken breast".

1. A dropdown lists matches, each with its calories and serving size.

1. Use the arrow keys or your finger to move through the list, then press Enter or tap to pick one.

1. The food's name, serving, and macros fill in automatically, and the name is confirmed as a chip so you never retype it.

From there, set your servings and meal and log it. See [[Logging food]] for the full flow.

== What is in the database ==

The database is built on the U.S. Department of Agriculture food data, so it covers whole foods, common brands, and restaurant staples with their calories and macros.{{cite web|title=FoodData Central|url=https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/|website=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service|access-date=2026-06-30}} Each result carries a standard serving so your first log is close, and you can adjust the amount to match your plate.

== Where a result came from ==

+ Loopa looks in a set order and stops at the first source that knows your food. Its own records come first, then the food databases, and last of all an AI estimate. [[Where food data comes from]] lists them all.

− Searching shows you a list from every source at once. Looking up a single food works differently: Loopa asks in a set order and stops at the first source that knows it, its own records first, then the food databases, and last of all an AI estimate. [[Where food data comes from]] lists them all and explains why the two differ.

A result whose numbers were '''estimated''' rather than measured says so on the row. It is still worth logging, and it is worth knowing which you have: a laboratory analysis of plain chicken breast and a model's estimate of your grandmother's stew are both useful, and they are not the same kind of fact.

== While you type, and when you press Search ==

+ Typing searches the foods Loopa already holds, which is why the list appears as fast as you can type. Pressing '''Search''', or tapping one of the suggested phrases, sends Loopa further afield to the other food databases.

− Typing searches the foods Loopa already holds: your own saved foods, everything the app has looked up before, and the whole reference catalogue. That is a large shelf and it is on hand, which is why the list appears as fast as you can type and why it still works with no signal.

+ That is why the list sometimes grows after you stop typing. Nothing is missing in the meantime; you are seeing the near shelf first.

− Pressing '''Search''', or tapping one of the suggested phrases, sends Loopa further afield: the brand and restaurant catalogues, the government reference tables, and the supplement labels.

−

− So the list sometimes grows after you stop typing. Nothing is missing in the meantime; you are seeing the near shelf first.

−

− If nothing on that shelf matches what you have typed, Loopa says '''Nothing saved matches that yet. Press Search to look further'''. That is a different message from '''No match''', and the difference is the point. The first means it has not asked anybody yet. The second means it asked everywhere.

Anything the far databases turn up is '''kept''', with the serving its own label states. So a brand or restaurant item somebody searches for today is on the near shelf for everybody tomorrow, it appears as fast as the rest, and setting a portion scales its calories and macros the way the packet or the menu would.

== Searching without a connection ==

Foods you have looked up before stay on your phone, so searching for one again works with no signal and the results appear straight away. The screen says '''Offline. Showing foods saved on this phone''' so you know what you are looking at.

A food you have never searched for cannot be found without a connection. If you are logging one anyway, [[Barcode scanning|scan the packet]] or enter it from the label, and it will save without a signal.

== When nothing matches ==

+ Not everything is in any database. If your search returns no match, you have two paths:

− Pressing Search asks every source Loopa has. If none of them holds your food, it makes one more attempt before giving up, working down the sources in order and stopping at the first that knows it: the brand and restaurant catalogues, then the government reference tables, then the supplement labels. A food found that way is added to the catalogue, so it is on the near shelf for everybody from then on and appears instantly next time.

−

− Only when that has come back with nothing does Loopa say '''No match''', and then you have two paths:

* '''Estimate it with mobieusAI''': describe the food and mobieusAI provides the calories and macros. You can save that estimate to your own foods so it is one tap next time.

* '''Enter it manually''': type the calories and macros yourself.

−

− An estimate works from the words you give it, so a homemade, regional or family dish is fair game, and "my nan's beef cobbler" gets an answer. Text that names no food at all does not: mobieusAI says it cannot estimate that rather than inventing something.

Loopa offers the estimate only once it has actually looked and found nothing. If the screen says it '''couldn't search''', that is a different message and it means the request did not get through. Try again in a moment rather than paying for an estimate of a food that may well be there.

== Search from anywhere ==

Loopa also has a quick finder you can open with the search button in the menu or the Ctrl or Command plus K shortcut. It searches three things at once:

* '''Sections''': jump to any page, like Water or Trends.

* '''Foods''': the same food database, so you can start a log from anywhere.

* '''Recent entries''': things you logged lately.

== Other ways to add food ==

Search is not the only option. For packaged items, [[Barcode scanning]] reads the label. For a full plate, [[Meal photo AI]] estimates it from a photo. For meals you eat often, save them under [[Meal planner|My meals]] and log with one tap.

== See also ==

* [[Logging food]]

* [[Barcode scanning]]

* [[Meal photo AI]]

* [[Where food data comes from]]

* [[The nutrition label and reporting a food]]

* [[Calorie and macro tracking]]

* [[Understanding calories]]

[[Category:Food and nutrition]]

[[Category:Loopa]]

''General wellness tracking, not medical advice.''

== How to search ==

On the [[Logging food|Food and macros]] page, start typing in the '''Search a food''' box.

Enter two or more letters, for example "chicken breast".
A dropdown lists matches, each with its calories and serving size.
Use the arrow keys or your finger to move through the list, then press Enter or tap to pick one.
The food's name, serving, and macros fill in automatically, and the name is confirmed as a chip so you never retype it.

From there, set your servings and meal and log it. See [[Logging food]] for the full flow.

== What is in the database ==

== Where a result came from ==

Loopa looks in a set order and stops at the first source that knows your food. Its own records come first, then the food databases, and last of all an AI estimate. [[Where food data comes from]] lists them all.

== While you type, and when you press Search ==

Typing searches the foods Loopa already holds, which is why the list appears as fast as you can type. Pressing '''Search''', or tapping one of the suggested phrases, sends Loopa further afield to the other food databases.

That is why the list sometimes grows after you stop typing. Nothing is missing in the meantime; you are seeing the near shelf first.

== Searching without a connection ==

== When nothing matches ==

Not everything is in any database. If your search returns no match, you have two paths:

'''Estimate it with mobieusAI''': describe the food and mobieusAI provides the calories and macros. You can save that estimate to your own foods so it is one tap next time.
'''Enter it manually''': type the calories and macros yourself.

== Search from anywhere ==

Loopa also has a quick finder you can open with the search button in the menu or the Ctrl or Command plus K shortcut. It searches three things at once:

'''Sections''': jump to any page, like Water or Trends.
'''Foods''': the same food database, so you can start a log from anywhere.
'''Recent entries''': things you logged lately.

== Other ways to add food ==

== See also ==

[[Logging food]]
[[Barcode scanning]]
[[Meal photo AI]]
[[Where food data comes from]]
[[The nutrition label and reporting a food]]
[[Calorie and macro tracking]]
[[Understanding calories]]

[[Category:Food and nutrition]] [[Category:Loopa]]

Food search is how you find what you ate fast. Loopa searches a large food database as you type and fills in the calories, serving size, and macros for you, so logging is a couple of taps. When nothing matches, mobieusAI can estimate it instead.

''General wellness tracking, not medical advice.''

== How to search ==

On the [[Logging food|Food and macros]] page, start typing in the '''Search a food''' box.

1. Enter two or more letters, for example "chicken breast".
1. A dropdown lists matches, each with its calories and serving size.
1. Use the arrow keys or your finger to move through the list, then press Enter or tap to pick one.
1. The food's name, serving, and macros fill in automatically, and the name is confirmed as a chip so you never retype it.

From there, set your servings and meal and log it. See [[Logging food]] for the full flow.

== What is in the database ==

The database is built on the U.S. Department of Agriculture food data, so it covers whole foods, common brands, and restaurant staples with their calories and macros.{{cite web|title=FoodData Central|url=https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/|website=U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service|access-date=2026-06-30}} Each result carries a standard serving so your first log is close, and you can adjust the amount to match your plate.

== Where a result came from ==

Loopa looks in a set order and stops at the first source that knows your food. Its own records come first, then the food databases, and last of all an AI estimate. [[Where food data comes from]] lists them all.

A result whose numbers were '''estimated''' rather than measured says so on the row. It is still worth logging, and it is worth knowing which you have: a laboratory analysis of plain chicken breast and a model's estimate of your grandmother's stew are both useful, and they are not the same kind of fact.

== While you type, and when you press Search ==

Typing searches the foods Loopa already holds, which is why the list appears as fast as you can type. Pressing '''Search''', or tapping one of the suggested phrases, sends Loopa further afield to the other food databases.

That is why the list sometimes grows after you stop typing. Nothing is missing in the meantime; you are seeing the near shelf first.

Anything the far databases turn up is '''kept''', with the serving its own label states. So a brand or restaurant item somebody searches for today is on the near shelf for everybody tomorrow, it appears as fast as the rest, and setting a portion scales its calories and macros the way the packet or the menu would.

== Searching without a connection ==

Foods you have looked up before stay on your phone, so searching for one again works with no signal and the results appear straight away. The screen says '''Offline. Showing foods saved on this phone''' so you know what you are looking at.

A food you have never searched for cannot be found without a connection. If you are logging one anyway, [[Barcode scanning|scan the packet]] or enter it from the label, and it will save without a signal.

== When nothing matches ==

Not everything is in any database. If your search returns no match, you have two paths:

* '''Estimate it with mobieusAI''': describe the food and mobieusAI provides the calories and macros. You can save that estimate to your own foods so it is one tap next time.
* '''Enter it manually''': type the calories and macros yourself.

Loopa offers the estimate only once it has actually looked and found nothing. If the screen says it '''couldn't search''', that is a different message and it means the request did not get through. Try again in a moment rather than paying for an estimate of a food that may well be there.

== Search from anywhere ==

Loopa also has a quick finder you can open with the search button in the menu or the Ctrl or Command plus K shortcut. It searches three things at once:

* '''Sections''': jump to any page, like Water or Trends.
* '''Foods''': the same food database, so you can start a log from anywhere.
* '''Recent entries''': things you logged lately.

== Other ways to add food ==

Search is not the only option. For packaged items, [[Barcode scanning]] reads the label. For a full plate, [[Meal photo AI]] estimates it from a photo. For meals you eat often, save them under [[Meal planner|My meals]] and log with one tap.

== See also ==

* [[Logging food]]
* [[Barcode scanning]]
* [[Meal photo AI]]
* [[Where food data comes from]]
* [[The nutrition label and reporting a food]]
* [[Calorie and macro tracking]]
* [[Understanding calories]]

[[Category:Food and nutrition]]
[[Category:Loopa]]