Scan for the truth about packaged foods with TruthIn

TruthIn, a food intelligence app simplifies food choices by identifying hidden harmful additives in packaged food products

Are you habitually checking the ingredient list of packaged food at stores? Most of us look out for ingredients like oil, sugar content, flour, and other additives. However, merely reading the ingredients does not help one know whether the packet of ‘healthy digestive cookies’ suggested by the nutritionist is processed or worse, ultra-processed. Some of these ‘healthy’ packaged foods can contain hidden sugars, flavour additives and fats unsuited for consumption. 

If only selecting /buying food was simpler.

The good news is, there is. TruthIn, a Hyderabad-based product intelligence app helps you stay healthy by identifying hidden harmful additives. Launched in 2023, the app is a business-to-consumer(B2C)-focused health and wellness tech platform — currently operational in India — for packaged food, personal care, and cosmetic products. It provides a reliable source for personalised information to simplify the process of making healthier choices offering transparent, detailed evaluations and personalised insights on food and cosmetic products. The TruthIn app also rates packaged products based on the ingredients and nutrition chart listed on the package.

Currently operational in India, the app utilises AI innovations and proprietary algorithms to feature a clear product ratings methodology based on scientific assessments, and personalised insights tailored to individual health profiles across the FMCG packaged groceries, beauty and personal care segments. 

Simply put, they extract, process and link the information to the unique barcode of the packaged food. The barcode (and the nutritional information in food category) are provided to the app through vision tools/ images. After this, all the information is processed using algorithms developed by TruthIn. 

Ravi Teja Putrevu, founder of TruthIn explains, “Sometimes, ingredient labels include names like INS 330, INS 171 (in chewing gum, dairy products, breads), Red 40 (added in cakes, biscuits and cosmetics, as additives or flavour enhancers) which are harmful. We developed an algorithm that identifies such ingredients. Our app employs vision models that process both text and images. The vision models are a subset of computer vision, a broader AI field that enables machines to interpret and analyse visual data. The TruthIn rating and food insights are obtained by putting this data through algorithms developed by the team, which also have a layer of AI.”  As a result, once the list of ingredients is linked to the barcode, the evaluations and ratings are made available on the app, enabling buyers to and decide.

How does it work?