A new app created by New Hampshire middle schoolers can be used to identify food allergens.
A group of eighth graders at Hampstead Academy in New Hampshire have designed a prize-winning food allergy app for smartphones. The students participated in Verizon's App Challenge, taking home the grand prize in the middle school level competition. They then got to work with those in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, where their vision became a reality. The app is available to download through Google Play.
So what kind of app did these bright students dream up? One that can identify allergens in a piece of food. Called "Chow Checker", the database being used, called Nutritionix, contains over 300,000 food items, with roughly 1,000 new ones being added every week. Those who download Chow Checker can scan whatever they are eating, or search for it in the app, and it will tell them what allergens are contained within. The app is designed to take the guesswork and scrutiny out of what you can and cannot eat.
Food allergies affect anywhere from 4 to 6 percent of children across the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Food allergy prevalence greatly increased over the course of a decade, rising 18 percent between 1997 and 2007. This growing number is what led the group of students to create the initial video pitch for their idea, which later became Chow Checker.
"We knew that allergies were a pretty big problem. We thought we could help solve that problem in our school and other places and help people who have allergies to stop from buying foods that may contain allergens," team member Alex Mielens told ABC News.
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