Health ministry to soon launch new app that will provide info on nutritional value of Indian foods

A good news for all those diet conscious people out there! A mobile app that will provide information about nutritional value of various food items will soon be launched by the Ministry of Health, Longvah, Director of National Institute of Nutrition, said on Friday.

Union Health Minister J P Nadda had recently released a data, which has been used for developing the app.

"All consumers have to do is to input the name of the food item and the quantity. The app will tell what would be the calorific value. If a person has had idli, the app will tell how many calories have been consumed. The app will be ready in about three months," Longvah said. 

Nutritional information about  151 food components of 528 key foods is provided by IFCT-2017 report, he said.

Samples from six geographical regions of the country are used to collect the data. The book provides data of regular nutrients in foods as well as about a wide range of bio-active substances. 

For the first time in the world, Vitamin D2 content in plant foods is mentioned here, he said. 

The report will help the policy makers while they design schemes such as mid-day meal for school children as it provides precise nutritional value of food items/components, he said.

NIN had suggested the rice millers that if they reduced the polishing by as little as two percent while converting paddy into rice, more nutritional value can be retained, he said.