Creation of a software system for the evaluation of nutritional content of purchased foods in terms of health indices,

This study aims to guide consumers toward healthy eating by scanning barcodes of food products purchased from markets and displaying their energy and nutrient content, along with data from two main indices: the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) and the NOVA Score. In the process of data collection and processing, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology was used for barcode scanning operations. The data added to the software system was checked for accuracy and completeness and underwent a normalization process. In this development-based research, a platform called https://besintara.com was created to transform the barcode scanner system into a user-friendly and practical website. A total of 2,780 products from the Open Food Facts database were grouped according to major food categories. During the barcode scanning of selected 100 food products among these, an 8% reading error rate was detected. In this study, Dietary Inflammatory Index calculations performed on 1,171 food products selected from Turkey varied between -2.03 and 10.719. Additionally, using these data, missing nutrient values were calculated by assigning a z-score of 0. A weak positive correlation was found between these two calculation methods. However, the relationship was found to be statistically significant. Moreover, NOVA scoring results of 314 packaged foods available in Turkey were calculated and grouped according to food categories. According to the NOVA score, there were 39 products with a processing level of 1, 13 products with a processing level of 2, 75 products with a processing level of 3, and 187 products with a processing level of 4. This developed platform integrates the barcode scanner function, allowing users to instantly access nutritional information about food products. This practical and user-friendly website aims to both increase awareness of healthy eating and encourage users to make more informed consumer decisions in their daily lives. Keywords: Nutritional Assessment, Diet Quality, Food Consumption, Health Index