New App Helps Users Avoid Contaminated Food

microbe sketch — Studies in mice suggest that gut bacteria can influence anxiety and other mental states.

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An upcoming app aims to make avoiding foodborne illness a little easier, whether at home or dining out.

The app, called FoodFeed, was developed by graduate students as part of a competition hosted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

FoodFeed has three tabs: one tab informs users about the latest food recalls and other information about foodborne outbreaks. The second tab lets users look up health code violations at restaurants, and see how a particular restaurant compares to others in the area in terms of the number of violations. The third tab provides food safety tips and information, including the recommended temperature to cook beef. [Salmonella Outbreak: 5 Tips for Cooking Chicken Safely]

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Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.