Just Eat Suspends AI Photo Test After Complaints
Just Eat suspended its test of AI-generated food photos after complaints about inaccurate images of dishes on restaurant menus.
After complaints about distorted images of dishes, Just Eat apologized and suspended its UK test of AI-generated photos. The company is removing the disputed images.
Just Eat Suspends Test of AI-Generated Food Photos
Delivery service Just Eat apologized for images of dishes that did not match the actual menu items. Among the botched examples was a traditional Irish bacon and egg sandwich on soda bread, depicted as if its ingredients were floating in a fizzy drink. Image courtesy of Just Eat UK.
The service’s test took place in the UK: restaurants without their own food photos could use AI-generated images. When an image was created this way, Just Eat labeled it “AI-generated” in the menu. According to The Independent, the company suspended the trial after customers complained.
In Northern Ireland, a restaurant selling soda bread, which is popular in the region, received images of sausages, bacon, and fried eggs floating in pints of fizzy drink. In reality, the restaurant makes Irish sandwiches on soda bread. The botched images were posted on Reddit by user u/PlannedObsolescence_ in the aifails community.
Another example involved salt and pepper chips, a popular dish at Chinese takeaways in the UK. It is usually made with fried onion, chili peppers, and sweet peppers. In the Just Eat app, the dish was shown as ordinary fries generously sprinkled with salt and pepper; the example was posted on X.
On the vegetarian page of another café’s menu, a dish called Cheddar was shown as an orange sauce resembling fondue. The case appeared in a post by the UKNewestFoods Instagram account.
The company said it helps small restaurants get high-quality photos, including by paying local professional photographers. A Just Eat spokesperson explained: “We want partners on our platform to show images that accurately reflect their dishes. That way, customers can feel confident about their order and be happy with what they receive. We help tens of thousands of small restaurants with food photography, including by funding shoots with local professional photographers.”
Just Eat also apologized for the inaccurate images. The company said it is removing the images that prompted complaints and has stopped the test.
“We were testing images enhanced with AI. As with any new technology, things may not go quite right the first time. We regret publishing any inaccurate images. We are removing them now and have paused the rollout of the tool while we continue to refine it so that it better meets the needs of our partners and customers,” the service said.
Disputes over AI-generated food images have arisen before. A few months before this case, in July 2026, unhappy local residents vandalized the façade of a new restaurant in San Francisco after a large board featuring such images was put up in its window.
