The Union Health Ministry May Launch An App To Tell You The Nutritional Value Of Common Foods

Lifestyle diseases are on the rise in India, and the government is beginning to take note. Lifestyle diseases, such as obesity are caused by a combination of factors including an unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity. Recently, to combat the unhealthy diet tendencies Prime Minister Modi announced that a ‘fat tax’ will be implemented across India, which increases the price of foods with added sugar, salt and saturated fats.

Now, in another move to help Indians make healthier choices, the Union Health Ministry has announced it is looking at developing a nutritional mobile app.

Understanding Food Composition

The app will provide the nutritional information about 528 common foods, using data from regional samples of food across the country.

This data is available in the India Food Composition Tables -2017 which was presented today by the Union Health Minister JP Nadda and developed by the National Institute of Nutrition. Nadda stated that in order to make the information in the book more accessible to the Indian public, they are looking at developing the app.

“(We are exploring) If we can simplify this heavy two-kg book and translate into an app which a common man can understand. If a person has pizza, how much he has added, has he added any protien, or added calories or carbohydrates?” Nadda said.

“We have asked it to be made into a common language. So that a common man can understand and in his day-to-day life, the food that he takes, what are the nutrient components, he can get it. We want that it comes out with an app,” he added.