PBH Helps Launch New iPhone Grocery Guide

AMY SUNG

WILMINGTON, Del. — Shop Healthy!, the first comprehensive nutritional grocery guide for the iPhone with over 100,000 unique, branded products categorized, was recently launched with the help of Produce for Better Health Foundation here.

The iPhone application nutritionally maps out the grocery store, and each product in the guide has key nutritional factoids, nutritional label information and, in most cases, how that product ranks within its category.

Shop Healthy! also includes tips on how to select and store specific fruits and vegetables. This information, along with fun facts about each fruit and vegetable, was provided by Produce for Better Health Foundation, a non-profit with the mission of motivating people to eat more fruits and vegetables through the “Fruits & Veggies — More Matters” national public health initiative.

“SmartNow, the developer of the application, approached us a few months ago to be the sole supplier of fruit and vegetable information and tips,” said Kristen Stevens, senior vice president of PBH.

“Our hope is to continue to promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables, in all forms, and to perhaps engage shoppers to purchase a fruit or vegetable instead of a highly dense, sugary snack food. The Shop Healthy! app is the only one of its kind at the moment.”

The categorization and ranking of the foods is based on optimal nutritional guidelines and was created by SmartNow's chief medical officer, Dr. Melina Jampolis, a graduate of Tufts Medical School who is also board certified in nutrition, with a team of dietitians.

“After years of explaining to my patients how to shop smarter at the grocery store, I decided to create an iPhone app that would do the same thing for everyone,” Jampolis said in a release.

Users can browse the aisle by category and tap on the icon of the product they're looking for. Users can search by brands to get a product's ranking and compare it with other brands. There is also a save and email feature.

The application is available for an introductory price of 99 cents.

In other PBH news, the foundation recently launched a new consumer contest, asking shoppers and their families to write up to 1,000 words about how they maintain a healthy lifestyle, how they have lost weight or how they have encouraged their children to enjoy fruits and vegetables.

The contest, called “Your Healthy Life and You” runs through July 1, 2010. One grand prize and four first place winners will receive more than $3000 in nutrition education materials and $1500 in produce coupons.