Singapore AI Calorie Apps Target 900,000 Users With Local Dish Tracking

3 articles · Updated · The Straits Times · Aug 22

Singapore-made calorie trackers including Ventrickle, HawkerSense and LeanerTogether are using AI to identify hawker meals that global apps often misclassify, aiming to support weight management without abandoning local food.
Ventrickle has 10,000 users and data from more than 500 eateries and 8,000 menu items, while HawkerSense has logged over 15,200 meals and Healthy 365 reaches about 330,000 Meal Log users within 900,000 monthly users overall.
The local edge comes from stall-specific data and prompts tuned to dishes such as ban mian, nasi padang and char kway teow, though building that coverage is labor-intensive—Ventrickle says adding one stall can take two to eight weeks.
Dietitians say the apps can improve awareness and accountability, but photo-based calorie counts remain estimates because portion sizes, oil, sauces and hidden ingredients vary widely across hawker stalls.
Prices range from free to $95 a year, and developers say the tools are meant to reveal eating patterns and nudge sustainable choices rather than deliver gram-perfect nutrition for every meal.