Food and drink manufacturers have been urged to support the industry-backed GS1 GoScan consumer app which hit the iTunes store yesterday after three years in development.
GS1 GoScan allows consumers to scan product barcodes while they shop to gain extra product information such as nutritional, dietary and allergen content.
According to Maria Palazzolo, chief executive of GS1 Australia, around 70 companies had so far started work on loading products, but because consumers wanted access to this information on every food product on supermarket shelves, much more work was needed.
She said consumers were downloading the app in droves and 10,000 product searches had already been conducted since GS1 GoScan's launch yesterday.
“One of biggest challenges we've had is getting the brand owners to provide the data. They're working on it and are committed to it, but it's taking longer than anticipated,” she told F&DB.
Most companies, however, were experiencing unexpected delays when it came to uploading their product data, she said.
“They are finding the data is not that easily attainable because it's spread across the business in many different formats.”
She said GS1 was available to help companies with these problems.
“We'll even go into their business and help them do it because we want the information as soon as possible,” she said.
AFGC CEO Gary Dawson also urged food companies who hadn't already uploaded their product data to get behind the app at GS1 GoScan's official launch yesterday.
GS1 GoScan was developed with support from the AFGC, as well as distributors, the major retailers, Australian universities and health organisations like Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia and the Coeliac Society.
Its food industry supporters include George Weston Foods, Kellogg's, Kraft Foods, Mars Australia, Nestle, Sanitarium, Simplot, Lion, Fonterra, Goodman Fielder and Heinz.
