Fooducate Diet App Now Shows You How Much Sugar Has Been Added to Your Food
New York, NY (PRWEB) December 30, 2014 -- America is addicted to sugar, with over 100 pounds consumed yearly by every man, woman, and child. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, increased consumption of added sugars, which are sweeteners added to food and beverages, has been linked to obesity and a decrease in the intake of essential micronutrients.
The USDA recommendation for women is to consume no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugars per day, and for men no more than 9 teaspoons. Since many foods include a combination of added sugars and naturally occurring sugars from fruit and dairy, people have no easy way to discern the amount of sugars added to products they buy at the supermarket. Nutrition labels do not indicate how much sugar has been added, and food manufacturers don’t voluntarily disclose this information.
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration announced plans for a nutrition label makeover. Among the changes, is an indication of added sugars. Unfortunately, it will take several years until the new label is implemented.
Thankfully, there is no need to wait for the FDA. Fooducate is pleased to announce the immediate availability of a new feature: TRACK ADDED SUGARS.
Fooducate app users can utilize their mobile device to scan the barcode of any product and instantly see a breakdown of naturally occurring vs. added sugars. In addition, the app assigns each product a letter grade (A, B, C, or D) based on the quality of its ingredients and nutrients. Fooducate provides brief explanations and warnings, as well as recommendations for healthier alternatives.
“71% of the added sugars in Americans’ diets come from grocery bought foods,” said Dr. Adam Drewnowski, Director of the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington and a Fooducate advisory board member. “With this new feature, the Fooducate app has become even more important in steering the public towards healthier diets” he added.
Tracking Added Sugars is available exclusively on the Fooducate app. This feature was developed by analyzing over 250,000 grocery products in Fooducate’s database. A series of sophisticated algorithms was developed to evaluate nutrients and ingredients in products, resulting in an accurate estimate of added sugar content.
“People are often surprised to learn how much sugar has been added to their food,” said Fooducate CEO, Hemi Weingarten. “By pinpointing the foods that contain excessive amounts of added sugars and swapping them with healthier choices, Fooducate helps individuals take a simple, yet significant, step towards improving their health.“
Fooducate is the only mobile app to provide consumers with an in-depth health analysis of packaged and restaurant foods. Using the app’s powerful tracking tool, dieters can calculate not only their caloric intake, but also their calorie quality. Fooducate can be personalized for diets such as low-carb, gluten-free, paleo, heart-health, plant-based and more.
About Fooducate
Fooducate’s goal is to help people improve their health through better food. The Fooducate app has helped millions of Americans learn what’s really in their food and lose weight by tracking the quality of their calories. Fooducate is available for iOS and Android, as well as online. For more information, please visit Fooducate.com.
Hemi Weingarten, Fooducate, http://www.fooducate.com, +1 (650) 295-0715, [email protected]
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