Make healthier food choices with GlutenSwitch.
Simply scan a barcode to see a product’s gluten status, nutrition information and gluten-free alternatives. GlutenSwitch uses science-based algorithms developed by The George Institute for Global Health. Whether you’re avoiding gluten because you have Coeliac disease, you are gluten intolerant, or simply wish to avoid gluten, GlutenSwitch will help you identify the gluten status of a product and give you gluten-free alternatives when grocery shopping.
The GlutenSwitch app is available in Australia
How GlutenSwitch works
Scan
Scanning the barcode of a packaged food will find the product data held in our database. The app will show you the gluten status of that product as well as the nutrient and energy information using easy to understand nutrition information in the form of the Health Star Rating or Traffic light icons.
Viewing mode
The ‘Health Star Rating’ scores a food between 0.5 stars (least healthy) to 5 stars (healthiest). In the Traffic Light viewing mode, colour-coded icons show the amount of adverse nutrients such as fat, salt and sugar. Green indicates a healthier choice with lower levels of these nutrients, amber has medium levels, with red indicating higher levels and is least healthy.
Healthier Choices
As well as the gluten status of the scanned product, GlutenSwitch displays a list of similar gluten-free products that you can switch to that are also as a healthier for you.
GlutenSwitch generates healthier choices by first finding gluten-free foods similar to the scanned item. It then ranks these foods based on their overall nutritional quality using the Health Star Rating algorithm to assess a range of different factors important to general health.
Store filter
If you’re shopping at a specific supermarket, you can use the Store Filter to display only the healthier options available at that retailer.
Frequently asked questions
GlutenSwitch will give you the gluten status of a product, based on if the product is declared gluten-free by the manufacturer or that we have estimated as gluten-free based on their ingredients. GlutenSwitch will also list similar foods that are declared gluten-free and estimated gluten free. You can see these details by scanning the product barcode using the app on your phone.
Each product you see in GlutenSwitch has been rated for its amount of energy, saturated fat, sugar and salt, as well as for other important food components including protein, dietary fibre, fruit vegetables nuts and legumes (FVNL) content, and for some products, calcium. The Health Star Rating (HSR) considers all these factors to give you an idea of how healthy the product is overall; a lower star rating indicates a less healthy choice and a higher star rating indicates a healthier choice.
Each product in GlutenSwitch is rated for its total fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt content. The Traffic Light ratings tell you if a product is low (green), medium (amber), or high (red) in these food components, based on widely accepted nutritional standards.
The app identifies gluten-free choices by comparing the overall nutritional value of foods. The algorithm used is based on the nutrient profiling system, which was originally developed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. It considers the different factors important to good nutrition, including fats, sugars, salt, energy, protein, dietary fibre, fruit vegetables nuts and legumes (FVNL) content, and (for some products) calcium.
GlutenSwitch is powered by a large, independent packaged food products database. However, because there are always new products coming on the market and some products are only available in certain areas, not all food products available in your country are in the database yet. This is why we encourage GlutenSwitch users to help us add to the database using the “help us out” functionality.
Where sufficient information is provided on pack regarding gluten, GlutenSwitch will list the gluten status of the product. The status for each product is based on the most recent package data we have for a product; however the manufacturer may have updated the label or ingredients in the meantime and this may change the gluten status. We recommend always reading the label and contacting the manufacturer if you have any questions or concerns about the product and its gluten status.
The database is updated regularly and undergoes several stages of check. If you find an error, please contact us on the website, or by email at foodswitch@georgeinstitute.org.au.
If you scan a packaged food product that isn’t in the database, you’ll be invited to help us out, by taking four photos – one of the barcode, one of the front of pack, one of the nutrition label and one of the ingredients list.
GlutenSwitch will then automatically send these pictures to us to validate the item and add it to the database.
Please note that with users contributing hundreds of photos to the database every day, it can take some time for the product to appear in the app. We also need to complete a series of quality control checks before listing products on the app.
Products may be listed in several retailers or sometimes only in one. Use the store filter feature to only view products ranged by the retailer you are shopping in. Also, products may only be available in certain sized stores or in certain regions. The app lists healthier choices that have been captured on a national basis and so may not be available at a particular store.
We have no commercial relationship with any food manufacturers that would affect information presented. Products are rated using science-based methods and alternatives are recommended solely based on their healthiness.
In June 2014, the Australian government agreed to the voluntary implementation of an interpretive ‘Health Star Rating’ (HSR) front-of-pack labelling system for packaged foods in Australia. The HSR System is based on an algorithm that awards a star rating, based on the quantity of specific food components within the product, which gives you an idea of how healthy the product is overall – a lower star rating indicates a less healthy choice and a higher star rating indicates a healthier choice.
The HSR system then makes it easier for you to compare similar products within a food category, based on their number of stars. This highlights that while all foods can have a place in your diet, some are better for you than others.
Research shows some people find colour-coded labelling easier to understand than other systems. The Traffic Light Labels display colour ratings based on 100g of a product. This helps consumers compare products quickly and easily. If a specific nutrient of a product has any nutritional data missing, it will appear in grey with a dash (-) under the nutrient that is missing.
Download GlutenSwitch from either the Apple App Store or Google Play store using your mobile device.
You need to subscribe to use GlutenSwitch. It is free to use for the first month and you will then be charged $AUD 1.99 per month. You can unsubscribe at any time. An internet connection (mobile data or Wi-Fi) is required to download it. Standard usage charges may apply if using mobile data – check with your internet and mobile service providers for more information.
GlutenSwitch is currently only available in Australia.
You can give feedback or ask a question by email at foodswitch@georgeinstitute.org.au.
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