In order to bring down the incidence of chronic lifestyle diseases by helping to improve people’s eating habits, especially, by way of guiding them to make healthy choices when they shop for packaged foods, The George Institute for Global Health India has launched an innovative nutrition application called “FoodSwitch.”
The application, which features among the top 100 global innovative solutions in the world and was funded in part through an Australia-India Council grant, allows consumers to scan the barcode of a packaged food item and see the nutritious facts about fat, sugar, and salt levels using the established traffic light labelling system – red (high), amber (medium), and green (low). The app aims at cataloguing the world’s food supply and making relevant nutritional data available to all.
“Poor diet is one of the leading causes of disease burden around the world. Around 11 million people die due to poor diets as against four million deaths caused by tobacco. Out of these there is a huge number which is caused by Over Nutrition due to higher intake of Salt, Sugar, Fat and other values. The only way to counter this trend is by bringing in behavioural change in people. FoodSwitch will help bring along this change and awareness,” said Prof. Bruce Neal, senior director, The George Institute for Global Health, and the brain behind the FoodSwitch concept.
The app functions in a way that the consumer just needs to scan the barcode of the consumable packaged food being purchased and the app will show the nutrition information about that specific item. It simultaneously informs the consumer about the healthier alternatives through nutrient profiling and indicates whether the item is vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
The app works on a threefold system which is primarily a crowd sourcing model. Initially the data for all products is gathered through consumer submissions. Post this, the collected data, is compiled into a database, which in turn is used to inform consumers about the nutritional profile of the packaged food. This will eventually throw light on consumer behaviour, thereby influencing government policies and industry practices related to packaged foods.
“FoodSwitch will help consumers evaluate the nutritional content of packaged foods and alongside that suggest better options with the help of nutritional profiling. It also helps vegetarian folks pick up the right product for them by highlighting the option in Green colour. This app will be of great help to the people who are health-conscious and are aware about the various nutritional factors responsible to lead a healthy life. However, in India, we need to work towards improving the quality of the nutrition label in packed foods. Our first goal will be to lobby for better labelling of products.” he added.
The approach that the app recommends and has adopted is targeting behavioural changes in consumers and improved food environment through better policies. The app has become popular in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and South Africa within days of its launch in these countries.
Available on iOS and Android phones free of cost, the application is backed by a database of about 10,000 packaged foods compiled in collaboration with the Centre for Chronic Disease Control in India. If a scanned product is not in the database, consumers can use the phone camera to send in photos so that it can be added. The data behind the app also supports programmes by the food industry and government designed to improve the healthiness of packaged food.
Dr Vivekanand Jha, executive director, The George Institute for Global Health India, said, “We want to work with the Indian food industry and the government to improve the quality of food supply. Small modifications and changes in the intake of salt, sugar and harmful fats in food can go a long way in improving India’s epidemic of non-communicable diseases. We hope that consumers in India will use FoodSwitch when shopping in order to make the most nutritional buying decisions.”
The app was launched at the Australian High Commissioner Patrick Suckling’s residence recently. Speaking at the launch, Suckling said: “FoodSwitch highlights the importance of proactive and creative approaches to preventive health measures. In Australia, we receive about 1,50,000 photos each year from consumers which allows us to keep our database up-to-date. The elements of consumer participation have been really exciting for us and this will in-turn benefit and improve their health. India is the largest country where we have launched this application and we look forward to a lot of engagement from the consumers to help us improve our work in improving health.”
