New iPhone Apps Demystify Shopping and Storing Food

by Jason Best, Posted Jan 6th 2011 @ 1:00PM

Want to know whether that box of Post Cranberry Almond Crunch cereal that you're eyeing in the grocery store is really that good for you? Forget reading the side of the box; check your iPhone instead.

The folks over at Fooducate.com have just released a new version of their free mobile app that allows users to scan the bar codes of more than 200,000 food products to find the truth behind the nutrition label. Sure, Post trumpets the fact that its Cranberry Almond Crunch is made with whole grains, but, as the Fooducate app warns, the cereal isn't made with 100 percent whole grains, and it has the equivalent of 3.5 teaspoons of sugar, mostly added.

Not only that, but the app gives each product a letter grade (Post's Cranberry Almond Crunch gets a lackluster C+), and suggests healthier alternatives (try B+ Multi-Grain Cheerios instead). Users can also rate products themselves and post reviews, though we're not sure how many moms with a squirming toddler in the cart want to spend the time wading through dozens of comments about canned soup.

In any case, the app (which is currently only available for Apple products) is a kind of Rosetta stone for all that appears Greek to most of us as we scan the ingredients list of the average processed food product. To wit, who knew that "hydrolyzed collagen" is an additive akin to MSG? Or that you'd find it in a protein bar?

And if you want to find out if that food is fresh, reports Fast Company magazine, check out another new app, this one the Consume Within app, which has already been listed as "New and Noteworthy" in the iTunes App Store. Developed by Unibyte, with the UK's Caparao Innovation Centre and the University of Wolvehampton, Consume Within lets you track freshness dates for foods stored in cupboard, fridge, or freezer, and monitors what you should use by what date. There are two versions, and one, the Lite version, is free and lets you monitor 4 items; the $2.99 version, unlimited items.

Of course, if you don't have the app, you can also use your nose and eyes, but that's so 2010.

Filed Under: New Products
Tags: iphone, iphone app, nutrition labels

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-07-2011 @12:07AM SynergyConsultants said... Apps are the next wave in restaurant trends. Most notable to be FourSquare and OpenTable apps.

See our blog post about how restaurants can capitalize on FourSquare http://www.synergyconsultants.com/foursqure-helps-restaurants-bring-in-more-traffic/
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1-07-2011 @9:31AM Hemi Weingarten [Fooducate] said... Thanks for this review. The video shown is for a totally different product. If you want to see a brief clip describing Fooducate's iphone app, it's here: http://bit.ly/fdctVd1
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1-07-2011 @1:29PM PR said... "To wit, who knew that "hydrolyzed collagen" is an additive akin to MSG? Or that you'd find it in a protein bar?"

Aside from both appearing in food products sometimes, hydrolyzed collagen has almost nothing in common with MSG, so I have no idea what this is getting at. MSG is a flavour enhancer, while collagen is more closely related to gelatin. It's considered a good source of protein and as far as I can tell is mostly used as a supplement for skin/joint health. And that, specifically, is why you would find it in a protein bar.
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