It’s that time of year when many people have either failed with their New Year’s diet or are pushing along with it and maybe getting a little bored. The new Fooducate iPhone app may become your best friend, as the barcode-scanning app can help people discover what’s really in their food and suggest healthier alternatives.
The idea behind the Fooducate iPhone app is simple: help shoppers choose affordable, healthy and tasty food in order to promote positive changes in the food industry. Those positive changes include helping people become less obese and changing spending patterns so that companies include healthier ingredients.
You could use the Fooducate iPhone app while you’re shopping to scan the barcode of food and find out what’s in it. Yes, most food already has the ingredients clearly labeled but this simplifies it to a few bullet points. For example, one scanning of a whole grain cereal says, “Look out! Not 100% whole grain.”
The program will also then recommend similar items in the same price range that could be seen as healthier.
“Fooducate’s mobile application points out the most relevant facts about a product, good or bad,” said Dr. Drewnowski, creator of the Nutrient Rich Foods Index (NRF) and a global leader in nutrition profiling, in a prepared statement.. “It helps consumers make smart decisions in seconds, paving the way for healthful food choices and healthier diets.”
It’s a neat idea and the barcode-scanning aspect is an efficient use of technology that has permeated the mobile space. I do have to wonder about who ultimately decides what type of food is “better” for you, though.
Still, the Fooducate iPhone app arms the consumer with access to more information to make decisions. Whether you decide to continue to buy that HungryMan dinner is still up to the user but at least now you’ll know how bad it could be for you.
Download the app here (iTunes link).