Nutrition App FoodSwitch Will Help You Shop For Healthy Food

There is an app for everything. Whether it be ordering out or finding that new restaurant or getting groceries for a night of cooking, everything is taken care off with a single click or touch. In the same vein, a new app developed by the Sydney-based George Institute for Global Health will tell you the nutrition content of packaged food just by scanning the bar code.

The FoodSwitch App, with part of the funding coming from an Australia-India Council grant, has launched in India to provide nutritional information when you are out shopping for groceries. It also provides alternative suggestions to products containing high sugar, fat and sodium content. During the launch of the product, Bruce Neal, senior director at The George Institute for Global Health, said, “FoodSwitch helps consumers evaluate the nutritional content of packaged foods and, when they can be found, suggests better options.” 

Since most Indian packaged food contains a significant amount of sodium and sugar content, this app will provide healthier alternatives and encourages better eating habits. With collaboration from the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, the database of the app already contains information on more than 10,000 packaged food. If the product is not available in the database, there is an option to send in pictures of the product so it can be added. 

The app was launched earlier in Australia, Britain, New Zealand and South Africa receiving over 600,000 downloads worldwide. The launch of FoodSwitch in India comes at the right time when people are becoming more health conscious with smarter eating habits.