The year was 2016 and Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, the 15 year old daughter of a UK based millionaire got a sandwich packed from a famous brand of sandwiches at London Heathrow. It was nothing unusual, neither for Natasha, nor for the sandwich seller until moments later Natasha complained that she could not breathe. Later that day she went into cardiac arrest and died. Cause of death - FOOD ALLERGY1

Food allergy which is often considered as a western disease, is now a global issue, and India is not far behind. It is estimated that 25% of Indian Population now have at least one allergic condition. In another survey it was found that annually, food allergies cause roughly 30,0002 emergency treatments in hospitals. Additionally up to 3 million Indians may have peanut allergy alone2 leave aside other common food allergies found in India

We at GoToChef kept wondering how could we contribute in avoiding such miseries? How could we help prevent young girls like Natasha see such fate of life? How technology can be used to avoid emergencies caused due to food allergies? It was some of these questions that made us build our ingredient marking feature on GoToChef. 

                                                         GoToChef allows you to learn about every ingredient by just tapping on the ingredient either in products or recipes

To begin with all you have to do is start marking your ingredient preferences, namely allergies or ingredients you are avoiding due to lifestyle, health or religious beliefs. These ingredients could either be found as a part of the 12000 (and growing)  products listed on the platform or you could simply search them from our database of more than 4000 Ingredients. You can also keep marking your preferences with food ingredients whenever you engage with products or recipes on GoToChef. 

                                                                                     An unmarked ingredient has a question mark next to it. 

Once marked, these ingredients will be highlighted (as shown in the image) in all the products and recipes published on GoToChef. With this red cross indicator you can immediately come to know in case you should avoid consuming this product or be careful in cooking a particular recipe. 

                                                               A red cross is shown next to an ingredient marked in your negetive list

                                                                   A heart appears next to the ingredient you have marked as a favorite 

                                                                  Green tick is for ingredients added to MySmartKitchen 

Additionally once you start marking your ingredients, GoToChef keeps learning about your dietary preferences and will start recommending you products or recipes which are more suited to your needs! If this feature could help someone like you, join GoTochef now.

We are on a mission to help consumers make informed food choices everyday and this is just a small step in that direction. If you or anyone around you is known to have food allergies (or other mentioned reasons to avoid certain ingredients) please share this article with them and help us spread the word. Let’s build a better, safer and responsible food world so that girls like Natasha enjoy life to the fullest!

Also read

• How to mark ingredient preferences while exploring food products on GoToChef 
• What is MySmartKitchen?
• How to Signup on Gotochef?

References

1 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-45731201

2 https://www.foodsmatter.com/allergy_intolerance/miscellaneous/articles/food_allergy_india.html