APPS FOR UNDERSTANDING FOOD LABELS

We all struggle with our health, and why is it so hard? Because the food labels are so darned difficult to understand! On my own personal health and weight loss journey, it has become a habit to check out my food labels, and to not purchase anything that has weird stuff in it that I don't understand what it is. I would honestly love to be able to know what everything is in every ingredient, in everything that I am putting into my body!

I was lucky to receive an email the other day from Sonny, someone who works with Nannywebsites.com. I thought that this would be a great fit for my blog, as it's informative and tells us about some free and cheap apps for our phones.  

Food labels can certainly cause confusion. With so much information printed in such a small space, it can become difficult to work out what’s in your food and how it affects your body. This is particularly worrisome for anyone who suffers from or has children who suffer from allergies. Even if you just want to have a healthier diet, knowing how to read and interpret food labels is vitally important. These 10 apps were specifically designed to translate the information you find on food labels into an easily understandable format.

1. Foodditive – Available for $3.99, Foodditive provides a comprehensive database of information on E-numbers and other additives. You can define any allergies that you have and the app will cross reference ingredients to ensure they are safe for you to consume. If you simply wish to determine the dietary value of a particular ingredient, Foodditive can do that too. You can also store all the nutritional information that you find, so in the future you have a quick reference point to draw from.
2.  Allergy Free Entertainment – If you’re thinking of throwing a dinner party, remember to check that none of your guests suffer from food allergies. Checking is the easy part; finding suitable meals is where things get a little trickier. Allergy Free Entertainment is an app designed with catering to allergy sufferers in mind. The app costs $2.99, has over 120 recipes and is constantly growing. You can use these recipes to find suitable ingredients for every type of allergy.
3. Food labels with nutritional facts – With over 7,000 foods and their nutritional facts, this free app provides a quick reference for common foods and their nutritional value. Simply search for the name of the label and the app will return nutritional information in an easy to understand format. This app is free from the iPhone store.
4. Label Lookup – This app has a very interesting and useful application called Label Lookup. Label Lookup is a database of around 200 claims made on food labels, and a rating system for how accurate those claims actually are. The rating system is based on reliable research from Ecolabel Labs, greener choices and a number of official regulatory websites. This fact checking app is free for the iPhone.
5. UPC Food Scanner – For only $0.99 you can walk into any store, scan a food label and have the ingredients instantly listed on your phone. However, UPC Food Scan performs another, much more important function: checking ingredients against your allergies. Once you have preprogrammed the required information, the app will warn you every time a potentially harmful ingredient is loaded from a label.
6. ShopNoGMO – If you are concerned about products containing genetically modified organisms, then this free app is a must have shopping accessory. Even though GMO foods are not labeled as such in the United States, ShopNoGMO has a list of foods that do not contain GMOs. The database contains hundreds of products, organized by category and brand name.
7. FoodDood – Dieting and keeping an eye on what you eat will never be easier once you download the free FoodDood app. You set your calorie and nutritional requirements, and FoodDood crosschecks food labels for compatibility.
8. FoodGauge – This is a simple app that allows you to enter nutritional information from food labels to determine the probability of either losing or gaining weight. However, as simple as this free app is, it does provide realistic portion recommendations.
9. Eco-Labels – Food marketing can get confusing, especially when it comes to healthy or organic food. Eco-Labels allow you to check the accuracy of food labels to determine just how eco-friendly a product really is. You can purchase this app from the iPhone store for $0.99, which you will make back in no time from the savings you get from buying genuine eco-products.
10. OpenLabel – By transforming barcodes from thousands of products into digital representations of their products, OpenLabel has created a global standards committee. This unofficial committee consists of ordinary citizens who can openly comment on the quality of any product in the database. This, says creator Scandipity, will create a truly informed global consumer base, all facilitated through the use of a free app.

Now that you have the ability to scan, chronicle and calculate the nutritional content of your food, you can look forward to a much healthier future. By using a combination of these 10 apps you will become more conscious as a consumer, which means saving money, too.

Thank you Sonny, for offering up your great and informative blog post!! :)

Do you use apps to help you with staying healthy? Which are your favorites?