"iphone" news and stories

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?

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Ever look inside your fridge, survey the random food items -- the single spud, the capers, the just-more-than-a-rind of Parmesan -- and think, Hmm. What am I going to do with that?

A new iPhone app from Limit Point Software wants to help you make a meal out of the motley crew of edibles. Foodmatic 1.0 helps users create recipes with what they've got on hand.

Give Foodmatic an ingredient or a set of ingredients, and its database can tell you how to use them. The app suggests other ingredients that would go well with that particular food, and lets you tap the suggestion to add it to the recipe-in-the-works. It even gives your ensemble a flavor score, the higher the more delicious. Sounds like having one of those impossibly quick improvisational cooks (the human kind) who always seem to be able to throw together an omelet, even when there isn't a single egg in the house.

While they can't yet replace the depth of information provided by books (like Max McCalman's recently published Mastering Cheese), cheese apps for the iPhone are certainly a lot more discreet and subtle when you're trying to tell the difference between Gruyère and Comté at your local cheese shop or while making cheese-course choices at a restaurant.

Convenient and affordable, these apps offer instant gratification for information on all manner of cheeses, tips on optimal wine and cheese pairings and even cheese recipes (including tartiflette and fondue).

After the jump, find our road test of the latest fromage apps – all of which are available at the iTunes App store.

Pepsi's recently released iPhone application Amp Up Before You Score has raised eyebrows as it purports to help users score dates.

The application, tied to Pepsi's new Amp energy drink, breaks women into 24 category types -- like bookworms, cougars, marrieds and actresses -- so users can "study up quick with a cheatsheet on the stuff she's into, with lists, links and some surefire opening lines."

Jezebel calls the Pepsi iPhone app "completely unacceptable and ridiculously offensive."

[Via ABC News]