GS1 unveils iPhone allergy app

A screenshot of the GoScan iPhone app.

Australians with food allergies, special diets or an interest in nutritional information can now turn to their iPhone for help with the release of GoScan by GS1 Australia.

The app contains information about products in supermarkets such as the expiry date, nutritional details and country of origin. It also makes use of the iOS voice function so that visually impaired people can listen to product label information.

GS1 Australia has plans to develop the app for other platforms ,such as Android, later this year.

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The GoScan app currently has 70 brand owners on board and thousands of food products in the database. However, GS1 wants more Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) brand owners and manufacturers to list their product data on the app following the results of a new study titled Scanning Australia’s Dietary Needs.

The study was conducted by Lonergan Research on behalf of GS1 Australia with 4000 Australians during January 2013. According to the research, 30 per cent of Australian adults have special dietary needs while 24 per cent prepare special diets for their children.

The study found that 70 per cent of adults made themselves unwell by misreading or misinterpreting a food label. In addition, 74 per cent of those surveyed did not know what additive numbers on food labels mean.

Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick

Follow Techworld Australia on Twitter: @Techworld_AU

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