A new feature has been added to the NHS Food Scanner App to scan product barcodes and suggest healthier alternatives.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced the move as part of a new Better Health campaign to improve children’s diets.
The app uses a ‘Good Choice’ badge to signpost users to healthier food and drinks in line with the Government’s dietary recommendations for added sugar, saturated fat and salt.
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at the DHSC, said: We are all aware of the increased pressures families have been under throughout the pandemic with children being stuck at home more.
“With advertising promoting unhealthy foods to kids, it’s not surprising that parents say they’ve often found it hard to resist pestering from their children for more unhealthy snacks, and that is why the NHS Food Scanner App is a great tool to help families make quick and easy healthier swaps.”
DHSC referred to survey conducted by Netmums that showed 58% of parents give their children more sugary or fatty snacks than before the pandemic and 64% said they often worry about how snacks affect their children’s health.
The app is available for iOS and Android phones. It also provides traffic light ratings on different food products, details of previous scans and an augmented reality feature to help children understand what they are eating.
Image from nhs.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0
