CHICAGO, Jan. 31, 2017 (PRNewswire) — Label Insight, the leading provider of data solutions that power transparency between CPG brands, retailers and consumers, announces its Open Data initiative. The initiative provides academic researchers with free access to a new level of granular food product data not previously available to the research community.
Spearheaded by Label Insight co-founder, Dagan Xavier, this initiative will aid in advancing critical research topics that affect today's increasingly health conscious food shoppers. Topics include sugar and salt content in the food supply, allergens, and other dietary issues.
Participating universities and institutions are granted the freedom to publish their findings based on Label Insight's data without restriction. Researchers use this data to impact and improve food and nutrition policy, as well as influence food manufacturers' choices when creating or reformulating their products.
"Our company was founded with the mission of enabling transparency between consumers and the products they use. We believe our technology can be of further help to the academic research community. Label Insight is opening up its data for the advancement of research, learning, and change, to the people who can use the data to make a significant impact," said Xavier.
Label Insight's Open Data participants include Healthy Food America, The George Institute, The University of Virginia, The Ohio State University, Duke University, and Sustain Hawaii, among others.
"Label Insight's food composition data has the potential to be the top data source for all U.S. researchers in the industry. The deep level of data goes far beyond what we would be able to collect ourselves," said Dr. Elizabeth Dunford, Research Fellow for The George Institute for Global Health's Food Policy. "We use Label Insight's data for academic research such as monitoring adverse nutrients in the food supply and it will power the FoodSwitch smartphone application - which is designed to jointly support the individual and environmental approaches to the prevention of diet-related ill health - when it launches in the United States."
"The ability to access accurate, timely, and representative label information for foods on sale in the USA is critical for our research," adds Dr. Neal Hooker, Professor of Food Policy, John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. "We are better able to determine the impact of food policy and to monitor the voluntary actions of firms whether targeting food safety, nutrition or sustainability."
About Label Insight
Label Insight is a data refinery for product data that powers transparency between CPG brands, retailers and consumers. The company captures, analyzes and enriches data contained on the packaging and labeling of food, pet, and personal care products. Label Insight's platform enables transparent, open access to accurate product information across more than 350,000 products, representing 80% of the top purchased CPG products in the USA today. Label Insight customers use this data to provide greater transparency to consumers; easily participate in industry and government initiatives, such as SmartLabel; create more connected omni-channel experiences; and maximize category growth potential. To learn more visit www.labelinsight.com.