Behind the Label: Improving Awareness on Consumer Food Choices

Type: Self initiated
My Role: Design Research, Prototyping

The Big Question

How clean and healthy is the food that I’m buying?

Why can’t I pronounce some of these ingredients and why do they all sound… hazardous?

PART 1
Rapid Secondary Research

Research shows that while food labels are legally required to provide nutritional and ingredient information, they are often challenging for the average consumer to decipher. Studies by the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior indicate that food literacy is low, with many consumers struggling to interpret ingredient lists and nutrition facts. A 2020 report by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the role of processed foods and added sugars in rising global obesity rates, calling for more transparent labeling.

In a separate study conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, consumers who were better educated on reading food labels were found to make healthier choices more consistently. The introduction of front-of-package labeling systems, such as traffic light labels, has improved consumer awareness, but these systems are not yet widespread or fully comprehensive. Additionally, a study published by Public Health Nutrition revealed that consumers are more likely to buy food that has health-related claims on the packaging, despite potentially unhealthy ingredients

High-level Takeaways


Limited Label Literacy: Many consumers can interpret basic nutritional information (calories, fat content), but struggle with chemical or processed ingredients. People often don’t know what these ingredients do or why they’re used.


Desire for Simplicity: Consumers seem to be overwhelmed by complex data. They want straightforward, digestible information about ingredients without having to research every product they pick up.


Lack of Alternatives: Even when people learn about harmful ingredients, they often don’t know what healthier alternatives exist. Providing alternative recommendations can ease the decision-making process and encourage healthier eating habits.

Competitive analysis of several apps currently in the market that offer similar features, examining how they compare to this concept in terms of functionality, strengths, and areas where they fall short.

  1. Fooducate: Rates nutrition via barcode scans and flags unhealthy ingredients but lacks receipt scanning, custom health profiles, and detailed ingredient education.

  2. Yuka: Offers health scores and alerts for harmful ingredients, but no receipt-based list generation or personalization for dietary needs and conditions.

  3. ShopWell: Provides food scores based on preferences, yet lacks receipt scanning, detailed ingredient info, and behavioral tracking.

  4. MyFitnessPal: Focuses on calorie and meal tracking, missing grocery insights, health ratings, and alternative product suggestions.

  5. ShopSavvy: Compares prices but doesn’t provide health or ingredient analysis.

PART 2
What’s out there to address this need?

A more detailed look

    • What it Does: Fooducate is primarily a nutrition and grocery scanning app that allows users to scan barcodes and provides a health rating for each item based on its nutritional profile. It flags ingredients like added sugars, preservatives, and artificial additives and suggests healthier alternatives.

    • What it Doesn’t Do:

      • Receipt Scanning: Fooducate does not offer receipt scanning, which means users must scan individual products rather than generating a list from past purchases.

      • Personalized Recommendations: Although it provides general health ratings, it lacks deep customization based on user-specific health profiles, such as dietary restrictions, allergies, or conditions like diabetes.

      • Ingredient Education: Fooducate provides basic nutritional information but does not delve deeply into ingredient explanations or specific health risks associated with them.

    • What it Does: Yuka is a popular app that scans product barcodes and assigns health scores based on nutritional content and ingredient safety. It highlights potentially harmful ingredients and recommends alternative products.

    • What it Doesn’t Do:

      • Receipt-Based List Generation: Like Fooducate, Yuka doesn’t support receipt scanning, which limits its ability to track and analyze user purchase patterns holistically.

      • Personal Health Profiles: Yuka lacks a customizable health profile feature, meaning it doesn’t adjust its ratings or recommendations for individual allergies, dietary preferences, or health conditions.

      • Ingredient Education Depth: Yuka provides a limited explanation of certain ingredients, focusing more on risk alerts rather than comprehensive ingredient education.

    • What it Does: ShopWell provides personalized food scores by allowing users to input dietary goals and restrictions. It rates products based on compatibility with user preferences and suggests alternatives. The app includes a barcode scanner and covers a range of dietary preferences.

    • What it Doesn’t Do:

      • Receipt Scanning and Purchase Analysis: ShopWell does not support receipt scanning to create a grocery list from past purchases, which would make list creation and insights more seamless for users.

      • Deep Ingredient Education: While it provides general guidance on products, ShopWell’s ingredient information is limited, lacking detailed health impacts or ingredient-specific hazards.

      • Behavioral Tracking and Summaries: It does not provide weekly or monthly summaries of user purchases or health improvements based on their shopping habits.

    • What it Does: MyFitnessPal is a popular app for tracking food intake, logging calories, and managing health goals. It supports barcode scanning, extensive nutritional tracking, and offers personalized insights into diet and health metrics.

    • What it Doesn’t Do:

      • Grocery-Specific Insights: MyFitnessPal doesn’t focus on grocery lists or receipt-based scanning; users log individual items manually. It’s designed more as a meal-tracking and calorie-counting app than as a grocery-focused health tool.

      • Ingredient Hazard Alerts: The app doesn’t flag specific ingredients or provide risk-based ratings on products, which would be key for promoting ingredient transparency.

      • Alternative Suggestions: MyFitnessPal lacks features for suggesting healthier alternatives to products in users’ shopping lists, limiting its ability to guide users toward healthier choices while shopping.

    • What it Does: ShopSavvy is a price-comparison app with a barcode scanner, enabling users to scan products and find the best price across different retailers. It focuses primarily on cost-saving and price comparison.

    • What it Doesn’t Do:

      • Health Analysis: The app is not designed to provide health ratings or nutrition information, so it doesn’t offer personalized or health-related recommendations.

      • Ingredient Transparency: It lacks ingredient analysis or explanations, focusing solely on pricing rather than nutrition.

      • Personal Health Profiles: ShopSavvy has no features for dietary restrictions, allergies, or health conditions, as its purpose is purely for price comparison.

PART 3
Opportunity Area

This project taps into a high-impact opportunity area at the intersection of health, convenience, and personalized nutrition. As consumers grow increasingly concerned with the quality and health implications of the foods they buy, there’s immense potential to create a digital tool that goes beyond traditional grocery lists. By using AI to scan receipts, analyze purchase patterns, and generate personalized health insights, the product could empower users to make informed choices effortlessly.

Tailoring recommendations to individual health needs, dietary preferences, allergies, and wellness goals sets the stage for a highly adaptive experience that anticipates and aligns with users' evolving lifestyles.

Expanding educational features—such as detailed ingredient analysis, health risk alerts, and alternative product suggestions—positions the app as both a shopping aid and a trusted health partner. This solution not only meets the demand for transparency in food choices but also has the potential to cultivate long-term user loyalty and drive real behavioral change, ultimately supporting healthier, more sustainable food habits.

PART 4
User Flow

This app flow is designed to empower users with tailored grocery insights that align with their health needs. Users begin by scanning a grocery bill, where the app leverages OCR technology to recognize and analyze each item. After generating a grocery list, the app categorizes products and rates them based on health risk—highlighting items with high sugar, sodium, or preservatives while suggesting healthier, alternative brands.

To provide an even more personalized experience, users can create a health profile, inputting dietary preferences, allergies, or specific conditions like diabetes or hypertension. This customization enables the app to prioritize suitable options, avoid flagged ingredients, and offer educational insights into potentially harmful additives. Weekly summaries track shopping habits, and users receive tailored health tips and reminders, making the app a proactive tool in promoting healthier, informed food choices.

PART 5
The Product

Introducing Ingredio—your personal guide to smarter, healthier grocery shopping.

With Ingredio, users can scan grocery receipts, using OCR technology to recognize each item and provide a detailed analysis. The app then categorizes items and rates them based on health factors, flagging products high in sugar, sodium, or preservatives while suggesting healthier, alternative brands.

Ingredio also offers a highly personalized experience through custom health profiles, where users can input dietary preferences, allergies, or specific health conditions like diabetes or hypertension. This allows Ingredio to prioritize products that meet individual needs, avoid flagged ingredients, and offer educational insights on additives. Weekly summaries help users track shopping habits over time, with tailored tips and reminders for a healthier lifestyle, making Ingredio a proactive partner in your journey to more informed food choices.

PART 6
Looking for developers!

Looking for a developer to help me get this product live for testing and deployment.
Drop me a word at: samyuktha_sam@brown.edu