Microsoft Supports Breakthrough Technology to Drive ‘Food as Medicine’ Innovation
Last fall, the White House announced more than $8 billion in commitments to the “food is medicine” movement linking nutrition and chronic illness, further accelerating this major trend. Now, Sifter and NutriStyle, two tech companies focused on radically advancing disease prevention through food choice, shopping and meal planning, have released a new white paper in cooperation with Microsoft that unpacks how tech is transforming the market. (Click here to read the white paper.)
“Healthy Eating is Good for Business” reveals how technology is driving healthcare, insurance and retail grocery to focus on improving public health through better eating. The NutriStyle platform delivers healthy meal planning for individuals and families, while Sifter technology enables a highly personalized shopping experience by matching foods to dietary preferences. Together inside next-generation consumer platforms, they transform grocery shopping and meal planning.
Microsoft is at the center of these technology advancements in health and retail, and its endorsement is a validation of the NutriStyle and Sifter technologies. Because of the proprietary way the two systems work to build meal plans and support product discovery for complex diets, they empower health professionals and consumers to create healthier meal plans with foods available at their local grocery retailer.
Making food selection and meal planning fast, accurate and easy is the missing link in motivating people to stay on course with healthy diets.
With NutriStyle, meal planning becomes a tool for improving and maintaining health. “It is the most comprehensive and engaging meal planning platform I have seen and is sufficiently flexible to address any nutrition related health issues and dietary needs,” according to author Neil Jordan, Microsoft Worldwide General Manager for Retail Health Innovation
As for Sifter, “We recognize there is no one-size-fits-all approach to eating well. The beauty of Sifter’s technology is that it places the tool in the hands of the shopper, allowing them to customize their nutrition profile and effortlessly find items in every aisle of the store that suit their unique food preferences, dietary restrictions and medical needs,” said Nicole Pazdziorko, Food City corporate dietitian
Health insurers, food retailers and technology companies are all striving to lead this sea change movement in disease prevention. “Microsoft advocates using technology in a customer-centric way to seamlessly merge traditional healthcare operations and grocery retailing,” said Jordan.