Hyderabad: The National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) is working on launching an AI-powered search engine/bot and web-based platform to help Indians make more informed food choices in the backdrop of a rise in consumption of pre-packaged food.Sources said that the platform, once launched, will provide nutritional information on thousands of food products available in the market. At the click of a button, users will be able to search for a product or brand and access details on its nutritional profile. The tool will aim to serve as a one-stop source of nutrition-related information for consumers. It will analyse various components of packaged foods and flag nutritional aspects that may help people better understand the products they consume.“The initiative comes against the backdrop of rising consumption of packaged foods and the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disorders. Officials noted that all information provided through the platform will be based on product labels and regulatory requirements applicable in India,” said an NIN scientist.In this regard, to create a scientific database of packaged foods sold in India, the NIN recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyderabad-based company that has developed the mobile application named TruthIn, which the creators said has over 1.35 million downloads and 1 lakh active monthly users. The app also received ‘promising innovation award’ during the last year’s NIN INFUSE innovation summit for startups, researchers, and technology developers.Dr Aman Basheer Sheikh, co-founder of the city-based NatFirst, which developed the app, said it examines nutritional content, ingredient safety, and the level of processing to help consumers better understand what they are eating. Ingredients that are often listed using INS numbers or technical terms are explained in simple language through a barcode scan or product search.“With a database of more than 75,000 food products, the app helps users easily check and compare food items across different online shopping categories, making it easier to make informed choices. Users can quickly identify hidden additives and signs of ultra-processed foods before purchasing them,” added Dr Sheikh.Echoing similar views, the NIN scientist said that such apps will help to collect, analyse and validate information available on food labels, including ingredients, nutritional content and product attributes.“The database is expected to emerge as a valuable resource for researchers, policymakers and the food industry. It will help in analysis of nutritional trends across food categories, support studies on dietary patterns among Indians, and generate evidence for future nutrition policies and labelling regulations. Moreover, it will help in profiling traditional and packaged foods, tracking changes in nutritional quality over time, and generating category-wise nutrition reports,” said the NIN scientist.He added that if the front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL) or any other new food-labelling format is introduced in the future, the database can help to support its implementation and help consumers better understand nutritional information. FOPNL is intended to provide simple nutrition information on packaged foods high in salt, sugar or fat, and help consumers make healthier choices. It is currently under consideration with the case going on in the Supreme Court.Meanwhile, once the data is uploaded on the NIN AI bot, sources said the platform could also assist food manufacturers in product reformulation by helping them compare nutritional profiles across categories and identify opportunities for healthier formulations of food products. “We also plan to work with other startups and organisations to add more features and make the platform more useful for consumers, researchers and the food industry,” said the scientist.