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Please Vote for Fooducate’s Nutriton Label Redesign!

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Rethink the Food Label is a project by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism’s News21 program and Good Magazine. They asked the public, food thinkers, nutritionists, and designers to redesign the Nutrition Facts Label to make it easier to read and more useful to people who want to consume healthier, more nutritious and wholesome food.

Above is what team Fooducate came up with – a label that’s not on the label. It’s outside the box. On your smartphone. The advantages are clear. Information provided to the consumer does not depend solely on the product manufacturer, whose interest is to sell you the box.

The contest judges are Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Food Rules, Robert H. Lustig, M.D. is Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco, Michael Jacobson is the co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest,  Andrew Vande Moere is Associate Professor at K.U. Leuven University, Belgium and founder of Information Aesthetics, and Laura Brunow Miner, designer and founder of Pictory.

They will be picking the winner, but there is also a people’s choice award based on votes from … you. So take a look at our design and others, then vote for your favorite by clicking its “like” button.

In health!

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  • Ekw

    What about those of us who don’t have smartphones?

    • http://www.fooducate.com/blog Fooducate

      You will, if not this year, then next year, or the one after.

      • Ekw

        Seeing as how for the next five years I’m going to be a poor grad student, I doubt it. I just wanted to point out that a nutrition label should be accessible to everyone regardless of socioeconomic status.

        • http://www.fooducate.com/blog Fooducate

          Agreed – information should be accesible to everyone. And it will be. With prices of smartphone falling at the pace they have, you will have one much sooner than you expect…

          • Hungry

            How will it be accessible?  I don’t have a smartphone nor do I want one.  I do want to check my food labels when I’m at the store.

          • Ekw

            It’s not just the price of the smartphone – it’s also the price of a data plan, which not even my parents can afford currently.

        • thomas b

          I agree.  When you need a special tool to access information it defeats its purpose.

      • Dee Rhodes

        Sooo,what do we do until then? Are you saying “let them eat cake”… :-/

  • Anon

    I 100% agree with Ekw.

    I HAVE a smartphone, but I still can’t use your app (wrong version OS). So even when someone with the means to have a smartphone and pay for the data plan can’t utilize your solution, it’s just not the best solution.

    It’s a great app for those who can access it, but what about older people who don’t have/don’t want or can’t use a smart phone? Shouldn’t children be able to read a nutrition label? What if you leave your phone at home or in the car? 

  • Dee Rhodes

    There’s only one problem with this — just as not everyone is on the internet, not everyone has a cell phone, and many if not most users do not have smartphones.  What do people who are under the poverty line, live in remote areas and are seniors going to do? They need this vital nutrition information as well. While many of us doubt the truth of the labels, or the method arrived at where the “facts” look acceptable, those who don’t have smartphones will be outside in the cold.

  • Mr. Bill

    Most (all?) of the ideas were about providing more informations. This might just be preaching to the choir. Maybe we just need less information.

    How about simple one word stickers like “whole” and “processed”? OK, it is not perfect either.

  • http://theorganicgreencownextdoor.blogspot.com Smokey

    The key “phrase” in your article is: “does not depend solely on the product manufacturer, whose interest is to sell you the box.” While I believe the phone app is a good idea, it doesn’t “drill down” (as was said here already) through the socioeconomic strata…having said that, the phone app should still be available for those who use such things.

    Thought: (gong with the tech thing)…how about having the data available on the price scanner/checker that most stores now make available?

  • ashley

    I agree with the general theme of comments already posted. This is a great idea and while it would be wonderful to have this information available, it’s simply not the best way to get essential information to everyone. Especially since lower socioeconomic status is more highly correlated with higher obesity rates it seems that the focus should be on making sure the information is more easily understood. Making nutrition information available solely on a $300 phone that you have to pay $80 a month to use just doesn’t seem to do that. 

  • Cosmos284

    I don’t have a smart phone, and neither do all of my friends and family.  This seems like an elitist solution.  Food labels should be on the product I want to purchase, I shouldn’t have to purchase an expensive device with an high monthly fee to know what I’m eating.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Monica-Warstler/518805946 Monica Warstler

    I’m sorry but i don’t like this idea. I use a prepaid phone, not because i can’t afford a smartphone, but because i don’t think you should sign a contract and pay more than $100 monthly just to have a trendy smartphone.
    I think nutritional information should be available to everyone, rich or poor, with a phone or not.

  • nbfe

    I agree with the other comments. As of last month only 41% or cellphone users have a smartphone. That’s in the entire US. You wouldn’t reach half the population, especially the half that really needs this information. Those who are affluent, well-educated and who can afford the data plans are most likely eating a healthier diet than those who fall into a lower socioeconomic class. 

  • nbfe

    I agree with the other comments. As of last month only 41% or cellphone users have a smartphone. That’s in the entire US. You wouldn’t reach half the population, especially the half that really needs this information. Those who are affluent, well-educated and who can afford the data plans are most likely eating a healthier diet than those who fall into a lower socioeconomic class. 

  • http://www.fooducate.com/blog Fooducate

    To all the people charging us with “elitism” – that wasn’t the point. Design competitions look at trends going forward a few years. Smartphones are becoming a commodity and within a few years EVERYONE will own one. Just like everyone owns a TV today. 
    We don’t think that printed food labels will go away but we are showing what can be done with technology to improve many people’s understanding of the food they are about to eat. 
    If a Fooducate-like technology solution can reach 40% of the population today, and 60% in 2 years, that is fantastic. You always need to start somewhere.

    • Anon

      It is such a huge turn off for this entire blog/movement that you can’t take any criticism. Stop just saying the same “everyone will have smart phones” over and over like a stubborn child and maybe look at some of the criticisms people are making and see if there’s a solution. 

      • http://www.fooducate.com/blog Fooducate

        please be polite.

        • Ekw

          Um, wow. Anon’s comparison of your responses to a stubborn child was a bit rude, but the rest of hir comment was a valid point. It would be nice if you responded to the various criticisms with more than just a repeated statement that “well in the future, everyone will have smartphones.”

  • Gerome

    I agree with most of the crowd, that one should not need a device to see the nutrition information. Even if the phone were free, or a similar device was provided by the store that performed the same function, I might just want to hold two boxes of product next to each other and compare the data. (I don’t know for certain, but it does not seem that one could do this with the Fooducate phone app.) I’m not much for walking around shooting a picture of a code while shopping.

    We also need to consider how older adults habits do not change at the same pace as those of younger earlier-adapters of technology. Even if everyone will have a smartphone some day, I bet it will be at least a decade before you hit 80%. Those who tell you otherwise are selling phones.

    I like very much the idea that one should have access to more data. But this also goes back to a core question. Of the people who use such an application – how many of them need it? The very active readers of labels probably also read and understand the significance of the ingredient list, and actually refer to it. I wonder how many people are smart enough to know they need the information, yet not smart enough to evaluate it for themselves.

  • Peachesaz

    I want the info on the product.

  • Eden Walker

    What about all the people who can’t afford $100 data plans and $600 phones that need to get replaced every year or two? All the people who need the information and education the most will be without any information.