Processes and Systems Using and Producing Food Healthfulness Data Based on Linear Combinations of Nutrients

• US 20100062402A1
• Filed: 08/28/2009
• Published: 03/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Weight Watchers International Incorporated (Artal Group SA)
• Original Assignee: Weight Watchers International Incorporated (Artal Group SA)
• Inventors: Jacobsohn, Christine, Miller-Kovach, Karen, Rost, Stephanie Lyn, Frye, Wanema, Peetz, Julia, Kinirons, Maria, Gerwig, Ute, Halkuff, Dawn
• Application Number:
  US12/549,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20100062402A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/127
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 33/30 Dietetic or nutritional methods, e.g. for losing weight A23L33/10 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A23V 2002/00 Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/02 Food
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/10 Services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/0092 Nutrition
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/02 with visual presentation of the material to be studied, e.g. using film strip
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/60 relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

Processes for selecting and purchasing and/or consuming food are provided. In certain embodiments, healthfulness data representing a relative healthfulness of a candidate food is based on a linear combination of nutrient amounts present in a candidate food. Related processes for producing food energy data and for producing a food product are provided. Related processes and systems for supplying food energy data to a requester and supplying meal plan data to a consumer are also provided.

Claims

1. A process for selecting and consuming and/or purchasing food based on the healthfulness of the food relative to one or more other foods, comprising, for each of a plurality of candidate foods, obtaining respective healthfulness data representing a relative healthfulness of each of the candidate foods, the relative healthfulness data based on a linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present therein;

selecting at least one of the candidate foods from the plurality of candidate foods based on its respective healthfulness data; and

at least one of ingesting the at least one of the candidate foods and purchasing the at least one of the candidate foods.

2. The process of claim 1, comprising obtaining relative healthfulness data for at least one of the candidate foods based on a linear combination of the selected nutrient amounts thereof and an energy density thereof.

3. The process of claim 1, comprising obtaining relative healthfulness data for at least two of the candidate foods based on a respectively different linear combination of selected nutrient amounts therein.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein each of the candidate foods is classified in a respective one of a plurality of food groups, and the healthfulness data of each of the candidate foods is based on a respective linear combination of selected nutrients therein corresponding to the food group thereof, the respective linear combinations of selected nutrients of at least two of the food groups being different.

5. The process of claim 1, comprising obtaining meal plan data comprising data identifying food servings to be ingested over a given period based on the healthfulness data, and the at least one of the candidate foods is selected based on the meal plan data.

6. The process of claim 1, comprising ingesting the at least one of the candidate foods.

7. The process of claim 1, comprising purchasing the at least one of the candidate foods.

8. A process for producing relative healthfulness data for a selected food, comprising, in a data processing system, receiving a plurality of nutrient data representing amounts of each of a plurality of nutrients in the selected food;

and in the data processing system, obtaining relative healthfulness data for the selected food based on a linear combination of the plurality of nutrient data.

9. The process of claim 8, comprising obtaining relative healthfulness data for the selected food based on a linear combination of the plurality of nutrient data and an energy density of the selected food.

10. The process of claim 8, wherein a storage of the data processing system stores instructions for linearly combining a plurality of nutrient data of foods within a plurality of food groups, the instructions for at least some of the plurality of foods groups differing from others thereof, comprising obtaining the healthfulness data of the selected food by accessing respective instructions for a food group thereof from the storage using a processor of the data processing system and, using the processor, linearly combining the plurality of nutrients of the selected food by executing the respective instructions.

11. The process of claim 8, comprising obtaining the healthfulness data of the selected food by accessing the healthfulness data from a storage of the data processing system.

12. The process of claim 8, comprising storing the relative healthfulness data for the selected food in a storage of the data processing system to update a database of relative healthfulness data.

13. A process for providing data to a data requester representing healthfulness of a predetermined food relative to one or more other foods, comprising, receiving in a data processing system request data provided by the data requestor requesting relative healthfulness data for a selected food;

using a processor of the data processing system, obtaining relative healthfulness data representing a relative healthfulness of the selected food, the relative healthfulness data being based on a linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present therein; and

at least one of (a) communicating the relative healthfulness data to a device for presentation to the consumer, and (b) presenting the relative healthfulness data to the consumer via a presentation device of the data processing system.

14. The process of claim 13, comprising obtaining relative healthfulness data for the selected food based on a linear combination of the selected nutrient amounts and an energy density of the selected food.

15. The process of claim 13, wherein a storage of the data processing system stores instructions for linearly combining a plurality of nutrient amounts of foods within a plurality of food groups, the instructions for at least some of the plurality of foods groups differing from others thereof, comprising obtaining the relative healthfulness data of the selected food by accessing respective instructions for a food group thereof from the storage using the processor of the data processing system and, using the processor, linearly combining the selected nutrient amounts of the selected food by executing the respective instructions.

16. The process of claim 13, comprising obtaining the relative healthfulness data of the selected food by accessing the relative healthfulness data from a storage of the data processing system.

17. A system for providing data to a data requester representing healthfulness of a selected food relative to one or more other foods, comprising, an input operative to receive request data provided by the data requestor requesting relative healthfulness data for a selected food;

a processor coupled with the input to receive the request data provided by the data requester and configured to obtain relative healthfulness data representing a relative healthfulness of the selected food, the relative healthfulness data being based on a linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present therein; and

at least one of (a) communications coupled with the processor to receive the relative healthfulness data therefrom and to communicate the relative healthfulness data to a device for presentation to the consumer, and (b) a presentation device coupled with the processor to receive the relative healthfulness data and operative to present the relative healthfulness data to the consumer.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the relative healthfulness data of the selected food based on a linear combination of the selected nutrient amounts and an energy density of the selected food.

19. The system of claim 17, comprising a storage coupled with the processor and storing instructions for linearly combining a plurality of nutrient amounts of foods within a plurality of food groups, the instructions for at least some of the plurality of foods groups differing from others thereof, the processor being configured to obtain the healthfulness data of the selected food by accessing respective instructions for a food group thereof from the storage and to linearly combine the selected nutrient amounts of the selected food by executing the respective instructions.

20. The system of claim 17, comprising a storage coupled with the processor and storing the relative healthfulness data, the processor being configured to obtain the relative healthfulness data of the selected food by accessing the relative healthfulness data from the storage.

21. The system of claim 17, comprising communications coupled with the processor to receive the relative healthfulness data therefrom and to communicate the relative healthfulness data to a device for presentation to the consumer.

22. The system of claim 17, comprising a presentation device coupled with the processor to receive the relative healthfulness data and operative to present the relative healthfulness data to the consumer.

23. A process for providing meal plan data to a consumer, comprising, receiving request data in a data processing system representing a request for a meal plan from a consumer;

in response to the request, obtaining meal plan data representing a plurality of predetermined food servings to be consumed by the consumer during a predetermined period, the meal plan data being based on relative healthfulness data for the respective predetermined food servings, the relative healthfulness data being based on a linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present therein; and

at least one of (a) communicating the meal plan data to a device for presentation to the data requester, and (b) presenting the meal plan data to the data requester via a presentation device of the data processing system.

24. The process of claim 23, comprising obtaining the relative healthfulness data based on the linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present in the respective predetermined food servings.

25. The process of claim 24, comprising obtaining the relative healthfulness data for the respective predetermined food servings based on a linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present therein and an energy density thereof.

26. The process of claim 24, wherein a storage of the data processing system stores instructions for linearly combining selected nutrient amounts present in respective predetermined food servings within a plurality of food groups, the instructions for at least some of the plurality of foods groups differing from others thereof, comprising obtaining the relative healthfulness data of the respective predetermined food servings by accessing respective instructions for a food group thereof from the storage using the processor of the data processing system and, using the processor, linearly combining the selected nutrient amounts of the respective predetermined food servings by executing the respective instructions.

27. The process of claim 24, comprising obtaining the relative healthfulness data of the respective predetermined food servings by accessing the relative healthfulness data from a storage of the data processing system.

28. The process of claim 23, comprising obtaining the meal plan data by accessing the meal plan data from a storage of the data processing system.

29. The process of claim 23, comprising communicating the meal plan data to a device for presentation to the data requester.

30. The process of claim 23, comprising presenting the meal plan data to the data requester via a presentation device of the data processing system.

31. A system for providing meal plan data to a consumer, comprising, an input operative to receive request data representing a request for a meal plan from the consumer;

a processor coupled with the input to receive the request data and configured to obtain meal plan data representing a plurality of predetermined food servings to be consumed by the consumer during a predetermined period, the meal plan data being based on relative healthfulness data for each of a plurality of predetermined food servings, the relative healthfulness data being based on a linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present therein; and

at least one of (a) communications coupled with the processor to receive the meal plan data therefrom and to communicate the meal plan data to a device for presentation to the consumer, and (b) a presentation device coupled with the processor to receive the meal plan data and operative to present the meal plan data to the consumer.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the relative healthfulness data based on the linear combination of selected nutrient amounts.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the processor is configured to obtain relative healthfulness data for the respective predetermined food servings based on a linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present therein and an energy density thereof.

34. The system of claim 32, comprising a storage coupled with the processor and storing instructions for linearly combining selected nutrient amounts present in respective predetermined food servings within a plurality of food groups, the instructions for at least some of the plurality of foods groups differing from others thereof, wherein the processor is configured to obtain the relative healthfulness data of the respective predetermined food servings by accessing respective instructions for a food group thereof from the storage and to linearly combine the selected nutrient amounts of the respective predetermined food servings by executing the respective instructions.

35. The system of claim 32, comprising a storage coupled with the processor and storing relative healthfulness data for the respective predetermined food servings, wherein the processor is configured to access the relative healthfulness data from the storage.

36. The system of claim 31, comprising a storage coupled with the processor and storing the meal plan data, wherein the processor is configured to access the meal plan data from the storage.

37. The system of claim 31, comprising communications coupled with the processor to receive the meal plan data therefrom and to communicate the meal plan data to a device for presentation to the consumer.

38. The system of claim 31, comprising a presentation device coupled with the processor to receive the meal plan data and operative to present the meal plan data to the consumer.

39. A process for producing a food product having relative healthfulness data associated therewith, comprising, obtaining a food product, supplying at least one of food identification data and food nutrient data of the food product;

obtaining healthfulness data representing a relative healthfulness of the food product based on its at least one of food identification data and food nutrient data, the healthfulness data for the food product being based on a linear combination of selected nutrient amounts present therein; and

associating the healthfulness data with the food product.

40. The process of claim 39, wherein obtaining the food product comprises producing the food product.

41. The process of claim 39, wherein the healthfulness data is associated with the food product by including the healthfulness data on a substrate associated with the food product.

42. The process of claim 41, wherein the substrate comprises a label accompanying the food product.

43. The process of claim 41, wherein the substrate comprises packaging of the food product.