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Accuracy filter for food searches
IvoryParchment
Posts: 651 Member
I'm just returning after a few years away, and the bar code scanning is now a premium feature, which I understand. But other than tracking protein/sodium, I really don't have a lot of use for the other features.
One thing that would be useful would be more accuracy in the results of food searches.
As it is, when you search for a food, you get a lot of results, many of which have been added/edited by members, many of which aren't accurately labeled or documented.
There is also the issue of bar codes that are reused by various local markets and are inconsistent -- the store brand peaches in one area of the country might have the same bar code as the store brand ground beef in another area.
My suggestions:
Premium members could choose from search filters to get the most accurate results.
For instance, one filter might only return the results from the USDA food database and manufacturer labels supplied by the manufacturers, no member-entered or edited data.
But the premium member could also broaden the search to include home-made meals members have entered, if desired.
Premium members could see a list of products that share the same bar code in different areas of the country to choose the one that applies and enter it on their logs.
Premium members could use tags like a minus sign to exclude results they don't want to see.
Premium members could flag inaccurate bar code scans for staff review (and could upload a photo of the front/back label of the product that includes the nutrition information for that product).
Not necessarily a premium feature: I should think that having a group of members willing to pay for accurate information would be a selling point for your ad department. While premium members wouldn't see ads, they could be able to use a filter for meals from local restaurants that are provided directly by the restaurants themselves. Those results could link to a map lookup to find the restaurant. Non-premium members would also see those results/links in their results. That would be an incentive for restaurants to provide that data to MFP as a marketing tool.
Those features would honestly be worth much more to me than any individualized advice, which is likely stuff a lot of us have already heard many times already.
One thing that would be useful would be more accuracy in the results of food searches.
As it is, when you search for a food, you get a lot of results, many of which have been added/edited by members, many of which aren't accurately labeled or documented.
There is also the issue of bar codes that are reused by various local markets and are inconsistent -- the store brand peaches in one area of the country might have the same bar code as the store brand ground beef in another area.
My suggestions:
Premium members could choose from search filters to get the most accurate results.
For instance, one filter might only return the results from the USDA food database and manufacturer labels supplied by the manufacturers, no member-entered or edited data.
But the premium member could also broaden the search to include home-made meals members have entered, if desired.
Premium members could see a list of products that share the same bar code in different areas of the country to choose the one that applies and enter it on their logs.
Premium members could use tags like a minus sign to exclude results they don't want to see.
Premium members could flag inaccurate bar code scans for staff review (and could upload a photo of the front/back label of the product that includes the nutrition information for that product).
Not necessarily a premium feature: I should think that having a group of members willing to pay for accurate information would be a selling point for your ad department. While premium members wouldn't see ads, they could be able to use a filter for meals from local restaurants that are provided directly by the restaurants themselves. Those results could link to a map lookup to find the restaurant. Non-premium members would also see those results/links in their results. That would be an incentive for restaurants to provide that data to MFP as a marketing tool.
Those features would honestly be worth much more to me than any individualized advice, which is likely stuff a lot of us have already heard many times already.
Tagged:
6
Replies
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Agreed, it has been a bit over a year since I last logged in. The once-free bar code scanner is now a premium feature…Sad days ahead. Time to pull out the old food tracking book and write it down like back in the 20th century.0
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I’m on trial period. Bar code scanner is picking up user-entered incomplete/wrong data. For a premium feature, it should only have verified data linked to bar codes.0
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