Walking through the grocery store, I pick up my phone, search for a bar code, and beep: My muesli gets a grade of B-plus. "No added sugars!," an app on my phone tells me, adding, "Nice! 100 percent whole grain."
The free app, called Fooducate, was created by Hemi Weingarten, a California man who once struggled to figure out safe and healthy options for his kids to eat.
The app has been downloaded nearly 10 million times since it was launched. The company more recently added a feature that analyzes ingredient lists so the app can discern between added sugars and those that are naturally occurring.
I was curious to try Fooducate because along with more than 2,600 readers, community members and Star Tribune colleagues, I'm trying to avoid all added sugars during the month of February. This means a lot more time spent reading labels. Good thing I discovered Fooducate, which made the job a lot easier.
We talked to Weingarten about glow-in-the-dark food, why deciphering food labels is so tricky and involving kids in making good food choices.
Q: How did Fooducate come about?
A: About 10 years ago my wife came home from the supermarket with a glow-in-the-dark yogurt for our three toddlers. At that time I knew nothing about nutrition. I was curious as to the source of the bright red color, and for the first time in my life, read a nutrition label.
I discovered that a controversial artificial color, red #40, was listed as an ingredient. That's when it hit me. I started to research additional ingredients and learned about the food industry. I didn't like many of the things I learned, and wanted to keep my kids safe.
