A novel app called FoodSwitch has been developed, which helps users scan a packaged food's barcode and acts as a nutritionist at the shopper's side in the grocery store.
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‘"FoodSwitch" app developed helps users scan a packaged food's barcode and acts as a nutritionist at the shopper's side in the grocery store.’
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Unlike other nutrition apps, FoodSwitch also asks users to crowdsource information on new and changing foods within a country's food supply to update the app's 268,000-product database in real time. ![twitter](https://images.medindia.net/icons/news/social/twitter.png)
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The app provides a simple "Health Star Rating" that scores each food between 0.5 stars of unhealthy to 5 stars of the healthiest.
The scoring is based on a scientific algorithm that weighs the impact of different nutrients on health.
The app also provides a breakdown of the food's fat, saturated fat, sugars and salt in grams and gives a percentage of an adult's daily intake for each, which is shown as red, yellow and green lights.
When a food gets few stars or multiple red lights, consumers can see it's high in fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt.
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"That's when you should take a step back and say, 'Maybe, I shouldn't be eating this. What else is out there?'" Huffman said.
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Source-IANS