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Show HN: Make better food choices when grocery shopping
- tommoor 5y agoI know it's not perfect but since moving to the US I really miss the UK "traffic light" labelling system: https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/check-the-label https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/check-the-label
- marban 5y agoNo labelling system in the world can make up for being able to judge the ingredient list.
- dylan604 5y agoFood doesn't have ingredients. Food is an ingredient. Simple rule to simplify life.
- marban 5y agoThere's no bad food, but there are some ingredients you want/have to avoid.
- dylan604 5y ago> There's no bad food. I guess that depends on you're definition of food. If you accept the makers of "food products" as food, then there's definitely bad food. If you do not accept that "food product" is food, then I'd agree!
- m-i-l 5y agoWe also now have the NHS's Food Scanner app in the UK: https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/food-facts/nhs-food-scanner-app/ https://www.nhs.uk/healthier-families/food-facts/nhs-food-sc...
- pupppet 5y agoThat's actually pretty cool.
- irthomasthomas 5y agoThese labels are confusing, misleading and useless (for people, I suppose they are quite useful for moving product). 1. The % differ from those on the back of the box. This is due to using ‰ RDA on front and actual % on back. 2. They are based on recommended portion size. Which is set by the manufacturer, and often differs between brands of the same food. So you get health brands like WW that can claim to be healthy by simply halving the size of the product (and increasing the price, to help you limit your consumption ;). This reminds me of the Plimsol load line on ships*. 3. They include water content. So a can of cola is only 30‰ sugar? But your body diseperates the water out quickly. What matters is the solid food. So cola should be labeled more like ~95 sugar, to be more accurate on the health effects. Dietary advice and regulations are garbage. Future generations will look at this and think we where completely backwards. I am sure they will wonder how we ever survived. * Sam Plimsol campaigned, in the 19th century, for all ships to have a load line painted on the hull, below which no ship could load. This was to prevent greedy owners sending ships out dangerously overloaded. We still use the Plimsol line today. The catch? Only the owner decides where to paint the line.
- desku 5y agoAnd how does this company make money? Harvesting and selling all of my data?
- jmcgough 5y agoIf you read the page it says "For upgrade, we support a variety of lifestyles." So there's gated paid features, like telling you if something is vegan (which would save me a lot of time sifting through ingredient lists so I'd totally pay for it).
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThat's correct! We also have an affiliate model with some of the retailers we support so get a small kick back from the retailer if you use our Browser Extension while doing your online grocery shopping.
- sergiotapia 5y agoI would love to use this but it's a bit confusing what this does specifically. Some feedback: 1. Tell me up front does this cost anything? 2. Can you show me some clear examples on what this looks like? A video would be great. Best of luck with this, you will help a lot of people change their lives for the better. I wish you nothing but success.
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThank you for the feedback! Did you see the interactive module right below the hero blade that shows you how it works with screen shots? Trying to figure out if that was too hidden (in which case we need to pull it up) or if it wasn't the right level of info you were looking for. We should probably be screaming from rooftops on that page that we have a FREE version which I now see is not clear. Thank you again!
- AnonC 5y agoNot GP. I personally don’t bother to look further if the homepage doesn’t have a pricing link on the top or on the menu or in the footer, because it seems like the site wants to hide key information from a potential customer. I couldn’t find a pricing link on your homepage either (using Firefox Focus on iOS).
- Carrieroberts 5y agoSuper helpful feedback and an easy fix for us to add to the site! Thank you.
- dr_kiszonka 5y agoI am on mobile and I didn't realize the module is interactive. Maybe you could have an animation there or a video? Information that it is free would be very useful but please describe in the same sentence how you make money. Otherwise, I will assume you sell my data. Very interesting product and I am looking forward to using it once you add more local grocery chains.
- ultimoo 5y agoThis is clearly a useful product that solves real problems, but I'm here to comment on browser extensions as a whole. Personally, I find the notion of running 3rd party code with internet access that can see the entire DOM of any website a little scary. Do others on HN routinely use random browser extensions (e.g. okta, grammarly, etc.)? Is there a different way to think about browser extensions that frames it in a more appetizing way?
- gruez 5y ago>Personally, I find the notion of running 3rd party code with internet access that can see the entire DOM of any website a little scary. chrome now allows you to allow access to pages on an opt-in basis (ie. you have to click the button for the extension to get access to the page). see: https://support.google.com/chrome_webstore/answer/2664769 https://support.google.com/chrome_webstore/answer/2664769
- db65edfc7996 5y agoThat's a hugely beneficial change! I too have avoided extensions because of the essentially complete trust required to accept that some code is good and will not be hijacked in the future. Now when will Firefox implement the same idea?
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThat's a really good point and something we should be talking about as a tech community. For our extension, it's "active" if you're on a retailer page we support and not active when you're elsewhere on the web. The extension overlays information onto the product page which is why we need to be "active" - we give a food score + show you whether it's compliant with your dietary needs (this one is a paid feature so needs to be unlocked). Doing this allows us to remove the friction around needing to "click" to get the relevant info so our lens is it makes shopping easier, but maybe we're missing something important about privacy. Will you share a bit more about the concerns you'd have with us being able to see your shopping on AmazonFresh for example? To answer your question - I routinely use a few extensions (Honey, Dashlane, and, of course, Sift) but I do find that I'm more selective about Browser Extensions installs than Mobile App installs.
- lkxijlewlf 5y agoEven easier: If there's more than just a few ingredients, don't buy. If you can't pronounce some of them, don't buy. But, I realize that's not practical for a number of people, so more transparency is always better. Good luck to you in this endeavor.
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThank you! Yes, totally agree that whole foods without labels are always when the best option when available and possible.
- bryanlarsen 5y agoLike any rule of thumb, it's fallible and game-able. For example "cultured celery extract" is something you probably want to avoid even though it sounds benign.
- davidw 5y agoOk, now we're all curious why that is.
- streety 5y agoIt's a "natural" source of sodium nitrite. Sodium nitrite is used as a preservative in deli meats and generally thought to be bad for our health. It doesn't matter if it is mineral or plant derived.
- NAR8789 5y agoIt's a "naturally occuring" source of nitrates and/or nitrites, used in meat curing (think ham or hot dogs or beef jerky or bacon). 1. Good: Nitrites produce that pink color and particular salty flavor. 2. Good: Nitrites suppress bacteria growth. 3. Bad but outdated? In large enough quantities, nitrites will kill you. I seem to recall this being the main issue, but a quick google now mostly turns up the next point: 4. Bad: Nitrites also produce nitrosamines, which may be carcinogenic [citation needed]. 5. Mitigation?: According to wikipedia, "The production of carcinogenic nitrosamines may be inhibited by the use of the antioxidants vitamin C and the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E during curing." People are worried about some combination of [3] and [4], and so some meat producers use variations of "(dehydrated|fermented|cultured) celery (juice|extract|salt)" in the ingredients lists instead of directly listing nitrites as chemical names. The counterreaction is to be suspicious of odd celery ingredients. Since nitrites are essentially synonymous with cured meat though (must be used to prevent spoilage, no available substitute as far as I know, but also no significant other usages as far as I know), I'm not sure you actually need to go to the ingredients list here. Rather than memorizing synonyms for nitrites, I'd say a better rule of thumb is probably: worried about nitrites ? stop eating cured meats : don't worry about it EDIT: I just thought of another place they exist: celery salt. So, if you're worried about cured meats, also avoid the celery salt.
- gnabgib 5y agoGiven you've labeled this submission Show HN, I imagine this is your site and you have your reasons - but wouldn't a link to https://www.siftfoodlabels.com/ https://www.siftfoodlabels.com/ be more useful than a link to the browser-extension? The main page explains the value proposition "Taking the guesswork out of food labels" Also your copyright footer is pretty dated (2020)
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThanks! I did thought about linking to the main landing page. We have had a mobile app for a few years now so have received lots on feedback on that product and fine-tuned the messaging. The Browser Extension is brand new and is where we felt we needed the most feedback from this community which is why the post links there. I don't understand the copyright comment? What am I missing?
- gnabgib 5y agoMaybe "Show HN: A browser extension to help make better food choices"? It wasn't clear to me you were only showing a new browser extension, not the whole concept. Well for example your browser-extension page was published in December 2021, but the footer says "Copyright 2020", should it perhaps say "2021"? "2020-2021"? "2020-2022"?
- brimble 5y agoPretend the cashier is a very attractive member of a sex you're attracted to, and that you've maybe got a shot with them. Now every time you put something in the cart, first consider how you'll feel when the cashier sees it. If the answer is "bad" or "embarrassed" or "ashamed" or the like, put it back. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
- dilap 5y agoIn that case, I'm gunna load my cart up w/ whip cream, whiskey, and big-ass tomahawk steak.
- Forge36 5y agoI'd bring a pie in this situation which is probably counter to this website's goal
- Carrieroberts 5y agoHAHAHAHAHAHA! Life rule to live by :)
- dgfitz 5y agoI would counter that if you’re worried about how a potential significant other is judging your food choices, you should use that as a first-pass filter. I would also suggest owning your choices, groceries included. Confidence is attractive, as they say.
- brimble 5y agoI think carefully-applied shame is an underrated tool.
- vgeek 5y agoHow many trays of Oreos is too many? 12?
- brimble 5y ago
- jimmaswell 5y agoWhat is a "risky ingredient"?
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThat is a great question and we, for sure, need to add this to our website in an FAQ section or something. We have our own database for this and look at "risky ingredients" in two ways: (1) Ingredients that are banned or heavily restricted in other countries are flagged as red (brominated flour, red 40, etc.) and (2) ingredients that may not be banned anywhere, but have numerous peer reviewed studies citing their negative impact to our health are flagged as yellow (high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, etc.).
- giantg2 5y agoAny flags for typically contaminated food? Like seafood processed from China?
- VLM 5y agoAround half of people with high blood pressure are salt sensitive and have higher BP when they consume salt, the other half simply pee more salt and zero effect. In the general population its much rarer only something like a quarter of people are salt sensitive. In the USA about 1 in 10 people have diagnosed type II diabetes (supposedly 33 million) and about 2/3 of the general population are some stage of fat and are essentially undiagnosed type-2, either way people with insulin disorders have that aggravated by sugar intake. Ironically if you're not sensitive to salt or sugar they aren't risky.
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThe big issue with sugar is HOW MUCH we're consuming. Most Americans are consuming more than 10% of their daily calories from Sugar and too much consumption has been linked to a whole heap of things beyond just diabetes - including cardiovascular, neurological, and metabolic issues. Sugar is also incredibly addictive so, with it being in so much of our food, it's no surprise that we're consuming more than recommended. Sift just brings that information to the forefront so that shoppers are more empowered in the grocery aisles.
- stephencoyner 5y agoThis is super cool. Incorporating serving sizes would be a great addition. For example, I just scanned an item that flagged sugar as a moderate risk. Could it tell me how many servings enters risky territory for the day? Love what you’re doing keep going please.
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThanks, Stephen! Serving size / food tracking would be a great feature add.
- aix1 5y agoIs this currently US-only?
- Carrieroberts 5y agoEeek, yes! Sorry - probably should have put that in the post.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mikebonnell 5y agoCurious as to why there isn't a vegetarian option as one of the diets. Seems like a glaring gap to me.
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThanks, Mike! I don't really have a good answer here. It was on our list of diets we considered, but we ended up prioritizing vegan given the plant based phenomena going on at the moment. It's still on the roadmap.
- amar-laksh 5y agoI am guessing this is probably using Open Food Facts database. Anyways, always happy to share OS things: https://world.openfoodfacts.org/ https://world.openfoodfacts.org/ (Please donate if you can!)
- Carrieroberts 5y agoHi - Yes! Good shout out. Our Browser Extension is new (which is the product I liked to), but we launched our mobile app a few years back and Open Food Facts was an incredible resource at that time.
- jfk13 5y agoI'm puzzled by the screenshot for "5. Making it easy to stay on track with your health goals". The icons appear to indicate that the product (Looped Fruits Cereal) is compliant with a Gluten Free diet, yet it then lists three ingredients under "gluten containing grains". If that's a genuine screenshot, it seems... confusing. (And if it's just a mock-up, I would suggest checking the "dummy" data for consistency.)
- Carrieroberts 5y agoOh my gosh, such a good catch! No it's not a genuine screen shot because we're using a dummy product for legal reasons but you are 100% right that we need to update that image. Thanks for the feedback.
- jfk13 5y agoNow that I look at the screenshots with "they're mock-ups" in mind, I notice quite a few typos, etc... some careful proofreading would make for a more professional look. E.g. the fake Amazon page has "approvalfor" (missing a space), "orders over %35" (surely that's "$35"), "Flavor: Marshmellow" (should be "a", not "e"), and "Abbout the item".
- rPlayer6554 5y agoThis is awesome! I have a diet that is rather difficult and this covers it. Really helpful.
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThank you! If it's a difficult one I'm guessing Low FODMAP or AIP :)
- irthomasthomas 5y agoI can't use it yet because I'm in Britain, but I am always interested in this type of thing. But I have some suggestions: 1. I would like to see more screenshots of the app in work. 2. A list of the fields. 3. The source of the data. 4. Glycemic Load. Not sure if you include it already, but if not, this would be super valuable, and would place you higher in my esteem than all similar tools. Right now, Asda is the only grocer, here, that let's you sort shelves by fat, carbs, protein etc. This is massively helpful.
- Carrieroberts 5y agoGood suggestions, thanks!
- FloatArtifact 5y agoI could see this integrating very well into https://grocy.info/ https://grocy.info/
- Carrieroberts 5y agoThanks! We are considering API integrations.