Nutritional Information System

• US 20130105565A1
• Filed: 10/29/2011
• Published: 05/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Richard Alan Kamprath
• Original Assignee: Richard Alan Kamprath
• Inventors: Kamprath, Richard Alan
• Application Number:
  US13/284,872
• Publication Number:
  US 20130105565A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/375
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/60 relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets

Abstract

Software applications for tracking nutritional information, which may be used on a smart phone for example. Product packaging information for a food product may be read and converted to a food product identification for the food product. A comparison of the food product identification against a food product identification database may be used to retrieve food product information for the food product from the database. At least part of the food product information for the food product is added to a user profile. A nutritional profile of the user profile is analyzed based the addition of the food product information for the food product. The user profile is updated with results of the analyzing for tracking nutritional information for the user profile. A user can then monitor food intake (such as fat, calories, sugar, food types), which may be compared to desired targets, goals, or limits.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium including at least executable computer program code tangibly stored therein for tracking nutritional information, the computer readable medium comprising:

computer program code for receiving a food product identification for a food product;

computer program code for comparing the food product identification against a food product identification database;

computer program code for retrieving food product information for the food product from the database;

computer program code for adding at least part of the food product information for the food product to a user profile;

computer program code for analyzing a nutritional profile of the user profile based on the addition of the food product information for the food product; and

computer program code for updating the user profile with results of the analyzing for tracking nutritional information for the user profile.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the food product identification comprises receiving an RFID for the food product.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the food product identification comprises receiving a bar code for the food product.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the food product identification comprises receiving a visual image of a code on the food product.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the food product identification comprises receiving a radio frequency signal from an RFID tag on the food product and converting the radio frequency signal to an RFID for the food product.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the receiving of the food product identification comprises receiving a translated food product code translated by a portable electronic device after the portable electronic device scans an untranslated food product code on the food product.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the untranslated food product code comprises a barcode.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the untranslated food product code comprises a radio frequency signal that includes an RFID for the product.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the untranslated food product code comprises a mosaic of black and white rectangles.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for triggering an alert for the user profile if a selected threshold is exceeded for at least part of the nutritional profile based on the addition of the food product information for the food product.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for transmitting the updated nutritional profile to a portable electronic device via a communication network.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the communication network is the Internet.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the communication network is a cellular telephone communication network.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for displaying the nutritional profile on a portable electronic device.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile comprises calculating daily nutritional consumption for the user profile based on the retrieved food product information for the food product.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile comprises comparing the daily nutritional consumption for the user profile to a targeted profile for losing weight.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile comprises comparing the daily nutritional consumption for the user profile to a targeted profile for gaining weight.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile comprises comparing the daily nutritional consumption for the user profile to a targeted profile for eating healthy.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile comprises comparing the daily nutritional consumption for the user profile to a targeted profile for improving cardiovascular health.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile comprises comparing the daily nutritional consumption for the user profile to a targeted profile for diabetic intake limits.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile comprises comparing the food product information for the food product to a food allergy profile for the user profile.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, further comprising computer program code for generating an alert for the user profile if a food allergy correlation is found from the analyzing.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for disassociating the food product information previously added to the user profile.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for categorizing the food product information for the food product into a food type group in the user profile.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for generating a delta field value for a certain category of nutritional information, the delta field value being a difference between a calculated value and a threshold value for the certain category of nutritional information based on the addition of the food product information for the food product.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 25, further comprising computer program code for generating a visual display of the delta field value on a portable electronic device.

27. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising:

computer program code for displaying a food product list to a user;

computer program code for receiving a selection by the user of the food product from the food product list; and

computer program code for converting the selection by the user to the food product identification.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for adding points to a certain data field of the user profile based on the addition of the food product information for the food product.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for assigning points to the food product based on the food product information for the food product.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, further comprising computer program code for adding points to the user profile for the food product.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 1, further comprising computer program code for receiving an input from a user for a percentage of the food product.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 31, further comprising:

computer program code for dividing the percentage by 100 to generate a multiplying factor; and

computer program code for multiplying at least one value of the food product information for the food product by the multiplying factor.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the computer program code for analyzing includes at least one operation selected from a group of summing consumption, finding a mean consumption, finding a mode consumption, finding a median consumption, and finding a total consumption, finding a difference between daily consumption and recommended daily allowance, finding variance, and finding standard deviation.

34. A software application configured to execute on at least one processor of a portable electronic device when stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium on the portable electronic device, the software application including at least executable computer program code for tracking nutritional information, comprising:

computer program code for receiving product packaging information for a food product;

computer program code for requesting a conversion of the product packaging information to a food product identification for the food product;

computer program code for requesting a comparison of the food product identification against a food product identification database;

computer program code for retrieving food product information for the food product from the database;

computer program code for adding at least part of the food product information for the food product to a user profile;

computer program code for analyzing a nutritional profile of the user profile based the addition of the food product information for the food product; and

computer program code for updating the user profile with results of the analyzing for tracking nutritional information for the user profile.

35. The software application of claim 34, wherein the conversion of the product packaging information to the food product identification for the food product is performed by the at least one processor of the portable electronic device.

36. The software application of claim 34, wherein the conversion of the product packaging information to the food product identification for the food product is performed by a remote computer system after the portable electronic device transmits the product packaging information via a communication network.

37. The software application of claim 34, wherein the comparison of the food product identification against a food product identification database is performed by the at least one processor of the portable electronic device.

38. The software application of claim 34, wherein the comparison of the food product identification against a food product identification database is performed by a remote computer system after the portable electronic device transmits the product packaging information to the remote computer system via a communication network.

39. The software application of claim 34, wherein the comparison of the food product identification against a food product identification database is performed by a remote computer system after the portable electronic device transmits the food product identification to the remote computer system via a communication network.

40. The software application of claim 34, wherein the retrieving food product information for the food product from the database is performed by the portable electronic device.

41. The software application of claim 34, wherein the retrieving food product information for the food product from the database is performed by a remote computer system.

42. The software application of claim 34, wherein the adding at least part of the food product information for the food product to the user profile is performed by the portable electronic device.

43. The software application of claim 34, wherein the adding at least part of the food product information for the food product to the user profile is performed by a remote computer system.

44. The software application of claim 34, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile of the user profile based the addition of the food product information for the food product is performed by the portable electronic device.

45. The software application of claim 34, wherein the analyzing of the nutritional profile of the user profile based the addition of the food product information for the food product is performed by a remote computer system.

46. The software application of claim 34, wherein the updating of the user profile with results of the analyzing for tracking nutritional information for the user profile is performed by the portable electronic device.

47. The software application of claim 34, wherein the updating the user profile with results of the analyzing for tracking nutritional information for the user profile by a remote computer system, and further comprising transmitting the updated user profile from the remote computer system to the portable electronic device via a communication network.

48. The software application of claim 34, wherein the product packaging information includes a barcode.

49. The software application of claim 34, wherein the product packaging information includes a digital photograph of a mosaic of black and white rectangles.

50. The software application of claim 34, wherein the product packaging information includes a digital photograph of the product packaging.

51. The software application of claim 34, wherein the product packaging information includes an RFID embedded in a radio frequency signal emitted from the food product.

52. The software application of claim 34, wherein the computer program code for receiving product packaging information for the food product further comprises:

computer program code for generating a food product list on a graphical user interface of the portable device; and

computer program code for allowing a user to select an item on the food product list via the graphical user interface.

53. The software application of claim 34, wherein the computer program code for receiving product packaging information for the food product further comprises providing a text search field for user input via a keyboard.

54. A computer-implemented method for tracking nutritional information, the method comprising:

receiving a food product identification for a food product;

comparing the food product identification against a food product identification database;

retrieving food product information for the food product from the database;

adding at least part of the food product information for the food product to a user profile;

analyzing a nutritional profile of the user profile based the addition of the food product information for the food product; and

updating the user profile with results of the analyzing for tracking nutritional information for the user profile.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein the method is performed in a computer system including at least one memory and at least one processor.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the receiving of the food product identification is performed by the computer system via a communication network.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the food product identification was previously obtained at a remote location with a portable electronic device and transmitted to the computer system by the portable electronic device.

58. The method of claim 57, further comprising transmitting at least part of the updated user profile to the portable electronic device.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising formatting the at least part of the updated user profile in a graphical display format compatible with the portable electronic device prior to the transmitting.

60. The method of claim 54, wherein the method is performed in a portable electronic device including at least one memory and at least one processor.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the database is stored in the at least one memory of the portable electronic device.

62. The method of claim 61, further comprising:

requesting updates for the database via a communication network; and

receiving updates for the database via the communication network.

63. The method of claim 60, wherein at least part of the database is stored in the at least one memory of the portable electronic device.

64. The method of claim 61, wherein if during the comparing step the food product identification is not found in the at least part of the database stored in the portable electronic device, then the method further comprising:

sending the food product identification to a remote computer system via a communication network with a request to compare the food product identification with another part of the database at the remote computer system; and

receiving at the portable electronic device the retrieved food product information from the remote computer system via the communication network.

65. The method of claim 60, wherein the portable electronic device includes a display screen, a telephone device, and a camera device.

66. The method of claim 60, wherein the portable electronic device includes a display screen and an RFID reader device.

67. A method for tracking nutritional information comprising:

receiving at least one received electronic signal associated with at least one food product;

at least one computer processor associating the at least one received electronic signal with a unique food product identifier stored in at least one database;

the at least one computer processor associating the unique food product identifier with at least one nutritional information;

the at least one computer processor analyzing at least one nutritional profile of at least one user profile based the at least one nutritional information;

the at least one computer processor updating the at least one user profile with results of the analyzing for tracking the at least one nutritional information for the at least one user profile.

68. The method of claim 67, further comprising:

the at least one computer processor associating the updated at least one user profile with at least one transmit electronic signal; and

the at least one computer processor transmitting the at least one transmit electronic signal over a communication network.

69. The method of claim 67, wherein the target of the at least one computer processor transmitting the at least one transmit electronic signal over a communication network is a telephone device.

70. The method of claim 67, wherein the analyzing of the at least one nutritional profile of at least one user profile based the at least one nutritional information includes analyzing the at least one nutritional information and at least one user defined information.

71. The method of claim 67, further comprising disassociating at least part of the results of the analyzing for tracking the at least one nutritional information from the at least one user profile.

72. The method of claim 67, wherein all steps are performed within a same electronic device.

73. The method of claim 67, wherein the at least one received electronic signal is indicative of at least one RFID for the at least one food product.

74. The method of claim 67, wherein the at least one received electronic signal is indicative of at least one barcode for the at least one food product.

75. The method of claim 67, wherein the at least one received electronic signal is indicative of at least one digital photograph for the at least one food product.

76. The method of claim 67, wherein the at least one received electronic signal is received via the Internet.

77. The method of claim 67, wherein the at least one received electronic signal is received at least in part via a keyboard.

78. The method of claim 67, wherein the at least one received electronic signal is received at least in part via a mouse.

79. The method of claim 67, wherein the at least one received electronic signal is received at least in part via an optical finger navigation device.

80. The method of claim 67, wherein the at least one received electronic signal is received at least in part via at least one selection on a graphical user interface.

81. The method of claim 67, wherein the analyzing of the at least one nutritional profile of at least one user profile based the at least one nutritional information includes analyzing the at least one nutritional information and at least one dietary information.

82. The method of claim 67, wherein the analyzing of the at least one nutritional profile of at least one user profile based the at least one nutritional information includes at least one operation selected from a group of summing consumption, finding a mean consumption, finding a mode consumption, finding a median consumption, and finding a total consumption, finding a difference between daily consumption and recommended daily allowance, finding variance, and finding standard deviation.