NutriSleuth Review

Whether it be too much TV, not enough exercise, or strange contaminants in our food, people seem more unhealthy today than they have ever been. I mean, the black plague was pretty rough and all but at least it was contained to the eastern hemisphere. Because of our collective deterioration, food allergies are on the rise, food related diseases are more common than ever, and doctor prescribed diets seem to be all the rage.

To help people with their dietary decision making, PPweb Technologies has released NutriSleuth, the 155mb food scanner that will comprehensively weed the bad food out of your pantry. To test out the app, I made myself an alter ego named Calamity Chris who has mild diabetes and a whole slew of allergies and nutritional needs.

Navigating around the extensive NutriSleuth is surprisingly easy. There are instructional videos and a plethora of guides to guide you on your way, as well as in-depth descriptions of the long list of issues and ailments that may or may not be afflicting you. The first thing to do in the app is to set up your profile, which consists of your name, age, sex, and ailments/needs (all you do is check them off on the provided list). Once you are done, it's scanning time!

Scanning barcodes in NutriSleuth is just as easy as it is in any barcode scanning app, and returned information is sent back incredibly quickly. The output is a picture of the item, a tag at the top that tells you if the item works for you or not (complete with a button that tells you where the conflict lies), and a should-be-useful "Find Alternatives" button.

To me, the app fails in a big way in the "Find Alternatives" section which would ideally send back foods that you can eat, rather than just a big list of other related foods. It's great to know that I shouldn't eat my Rice-a-roni, but it would be so much nicer to know of something comparable that I can eat... unless there is nothing comparable that is healthy, which is entirely possible.

The only other downfall of the app is that it really only includes items that are in large-chain grocery stores. I myself don't suffer from any food allergies, but if I did I would probably do more shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods than Safeway. Most of my pantry consists of Trader Joe's items, so finding a good item to scan was pretty rough. It came as no surprise that diabetic, mildly lactose intolerant Calamity Chris should probably shy away from Hamburger Helper.

Large chain shoppers though will find a wealth of information in NutriSleuth, and will in turn find the app extremely useful. With time I'd assume that NutriSleuth will start absorbing more and more foods from alternative food shops, but as is, Nutrisleuth is only "big food" friendly.