Sean Howard, a second-semester business undecided major, was talking to his roommate about how there was no systematic way to track the nutritional data of the food served in the dining hall.
So, he decided to take matters into his own hands and created an app called Swipe that includes menus for all eight dining halls and on-campus retail locations, along with nutritional information.
It includes a list of calories, carbohydrates, fat, sugar and protein, among other nutritional information, in each food item served, and rates them based on individual nutritional goals. For those who have food restrictions or allergies or prioritize a special diet for fitness or health, a user can indicate this in the app, and the food rating will change.
“We came to an agreement that there is no access to menus and nutrition facts at the university,” Howard said. “So, I came up with the idea of creating an app that made it easy to follow the menu [and] Nutrition information, basically just makes nutrition and food accessible to students.
He started building the app in November and it launched at the end of February. When The Daily Campus spoke with Howard in early March, he had 500 users. He said his goal is 2,000 by the end of the semester.
While he coded the project independently, he worked with UConn Dining Services and Student Health and Wellness (SHAW) Nutrition Services to ensure the product was appropriate for all students.
“Our goal in working with Sean was to help narrow down the scope of the project to manageable development areas. [and] Addressing the difficult topics that must be considered when providing nutrition information,” said Michael White, executive director of Food Services.
White said she and Howard contacted dietitian Lily Tartsinis at SHAW to make sure eating disorders, elimination diets, allergies and medical changes were taken into account with the app.
“We don’t want students to avoid certain foods simply because they don’t score well on the algorithm,” White said. “In some cases, net intake is more important than if it follows the recent trend of scoring protein or fiber.”
The app has a wellness mode that blocks ratings and has a positive frame of whole foods, which benefits someone who may be recovering from an eating disorder or other health issue, Howard said.
“When I talked to the nutritionists, we made it clear that we didn’t want to discourage students who were already struggling with food,” he said. “So that’s what I want to consider.”
With prior coding experience, Howard said he used AI to learn how to code and build the app, while taking feedback from others. He said he uploaded about 60 test builds before releasing them to the Apple Store for review.
“That’s it [a] It feels good to know that I can say that I’ve actually done something beyond the coursework,” Howard said. “Right now it’s just a personal project, but I hope it grows a little bit more.”
He said while he’s using UConn as his pilot, he’s looking for ways to monetize the app through local advertising or sales to local schools. However, he wants to keep it free to all UConn students.
Howard said right now, his main priority is making sure all UConn students benefit from it.
“I’m going to try to focus it on the individual experience, try to make it not just the average student, but absolutely everyone,” he said.
The app can be downloaded from the App Store at this link.
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