Two Australian-made food scanning apps have been recognised in separate awards presentations in Australia and overseas.
The food-scanning app, FoodSwitch, has been recognised as one of the world’s top 100 innovative initiatives, selected from entries spanning more than 79 countries in the international 2013 Sustainia100 launch event in London.
The GS1 GoScan app for smartphones has also won a major local industry award for information technology information.
The GoScan app was launched in March this year by GS1 Australia and the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). It allows consumers to access food product information by scanning barcodes on the packaging.
It is the country’s first whole-of-industry endorsed smartphone application that enables consumers to know if a food product suits their special dietary needs with a simple scan of a barcode, and it was named as an iAwards Merit Recipient in the Victorian state section of 2013 iAwards Consumer Category for ICT innovation.
The iAwards are recognised as one of the premier technology awards platforms in Australia, honouring ICT achievements across all facets of the economy.
“As manufacturers and brand owners continue to list their products on our database, the application will increasingly empower Australians to make more informed food choices,” GS1 Australia’s CEO, Maria Palazzolo, said.
FoodSwitch, meanwhile, was acknowledged for its efforts to help Australians make healthier food choices and reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke.
The FoodSwitch app, developed by Bupa and The George Institute for Global Health, delivers immediate, easy-to-understand nutritional information so users can switch to healthier options.
There have been close to 350,000 Australian downloads since the app launched in January last year.
