The fast-paced culture of fast food in America leaves people with little healthy food choices, a situation which places the overall health and well-being of the population in a precarious condition. Concurrent with the spread of fast food restaurants in the US that started in the mid-1970’s, has been the substantial increase in the incidence of obesity and obesity-related disease conditions. And although some might argue that these two are unrelated, the phrase you are what you eat comes to mind.
Many experts in the field of nutrition have however hinted at the low level of public awareness and an educational system bereft of critical topics related to nutrition and health to be a major reason that unhealthy food consumption is still rising. This inherent lack of information as to what is healthy and unhealthy is one of the primary reasons Xyrupt created Pictofood. Pictofood instantaneously renders all the relevant nutritional information of any given food serving, effectively making up for the lack of nutritional consciousness characteristics of the general populace.
The app is simple to use requiring, only snapping a photo of the food with any mobile device. Within seconds it will return the number of calories, vitamins, fat, and all the standard information seen on a nutritional facts label. “By allowing people to have simple access to the nutritional value of their food you enable them to make better food decisions for them and their families.”, said Alexandro Pando co-founder and CEO of Xyrupt, the Boston-based company that created the app. He added that nutritional education needs to be at the forefront and this app seeks to raise awareness of that.
Creators of PictoFood are anticipating the new platform will allow people to make healthier food decisions which can lead to a healthier lifestyle. A healthier lifestyle includes one rid of fast foods, a fact health practitioners nationwide unanimously attest to. Fast foods are rich in trans fatty acids, excess salt and an abundance of refined sugar which are all precursors for the development of a variety of chronic illnesses including the incidence of heart disease, a leading cause of death for both men and women.
In collaboration with health and nutritional professionals, Xyrupt’s app is on the cutting edge, as it has the potential of conferring to society the capabilities of the FDA. A feat that is at the core of Xyrupt and its implementation of solution-oriented disruptive technologies that seek to increase transparency and proactive change.
Xyrupt has recently contributed another simple but useful sustenance oriented tool, called S.N.A.P. Now, concurrently with the USDA further extending the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program (S.N.A.P.). Its primary function is to allow participants of this national government program to find S.N.A.P. retailers and partners near them. This app is ideal for people with disabilities who cannot afford to shop around but want to find participants that will accept their vouchers.
PictoFood has garnered thousands of downloads. Pando says PictoFood is in line with a multitude of technologies by Xyrupt that bring transparency and accessibility to markets lacking. He says that it has sparked so much interest that they are currently collaborating with a non-profit organization to bring turnkey automated sustainable food solutions to developing communities and villages in South America this summer.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.