Just Eat Pauses AI Food-Image Trial After Menu Mistakes

Just Eat is removing inaccurate AI-generated food pictures and has paused the rollout of its image trial after implausible menu illustrations drew attention online. Among the errors reported by the BBC was a Belfast cafe’s bacon-and-egg soda bread represented as bacon and eggs floating in a glass of fizzy drink.

The company had been testing AI-enhanced images for dishes without photographs. The confusion between soda bread and a soft drink became a conspicuous example of how a system can produce a polished picture while missing what a menu item actually means.

What Just Eat says it is changing

A spokesperson told the BBC the platform was in the process of removing incorrect images and would stop creating more until the technology was further developed. TechRadar also reported a company statement saying the rollout had been paused while the tool was improved.

Just Eat said it works with tens of thousands of small restaurants on food imagery, including funding professional local photographers. Its statement described the AI work as a trial, rather than a finished replacement for that photography.

Other mistakes described by the BBC included chips protruding from muffins and a cheese roll interpreted as a sushi-like roll made of cheese. These were image-generation errors, not evidence that restaurants were serving the illustrated combinations.

A label does not guarantee an accurate picture

The BBC reported that generated images carried an AI label in the delivery app, but it still found unusual examples displayed on menus while the removal process was under way. The available reporting does not establish that every incorrect image has now been removed.

The concern for customers is not limited to obviously absurd results. A convincing generated picture may still misrepresent portion size, ingredients or presentation. A label explains how a picture was made; it does not verify that the picture faithfully depicts the restaurant’s dish.

What remains unconfirmed

The reports do not identify the underlying AI model, the full number of affected menu items or a firm date for restarting the trial. There is no basis to describe this as a permanent ban on AI imagery across Just Eat.

For restaurants and delivery platforms, the episode illustrates why regional food terms and real product accuracy need checks beyond visual plausibility. The published pictures function as shopping information, not simply decoration.

Sources

• BBC: Just Eat apologises for AI food mistakes
• TechRadar: company statement confirming the rollout pause