Review of the AllertMe App

Introduction

Research shows that an estimated 15 million people in America suffer from food allergies. There are eight major foods that most people are allergic to – fish, milk, eggs, peanuts, soybeans, tree nuts, shellfish and wheat. The Food and Drugs Agency requires food manufacturers to put labels on their products specifying what their products contain. Most importantly, they are required to highlight specific allergen ingredients like nuts. The requirements are so strict that companies need to be upfront about the possibility of cross contamination. The FDA monitors potential hazards like glass in beverages and often issues recalls on products that are found to be dangerous. Most people who suffer from allergies have to be careful of what they eat but this in not always easy because some products always seem to slip by undetected and information only comes out about dangerous allergens they contain later on when they already have made it into stores. As hard as the FDA tries to keep people informed, information doesn't always get to the people that need it in time.

AllertMe® is an app that was created specifically to provide urgent information about products with allergens on phones, tablets or desktop. A company called Alllergy Defender LLC in partnership with cross crown created the app. What the app does is collate information on allergens, product recalls and warning about cross contaminations from the FDA and sorts it out to according to specific allergic conditions.

Features and Price

AllertMe can be downloaded on iOS and Android platforms for $4.99. Set up is easy. All you have to do is enter what you are allergic to. These could be foods or specific ingredients like spices and AllertMe® will search for important information and give you updates on which products you might need to avoid. Once a recall or warning has been issued on specific allergens, if there is a pertinent alert the Allert message will appear on your screen as a blue bubble. AllertMe® goes further by providing the picture of the allergen containing product as well as the UPC number.

Advantages

This is a life saving app that could be very useful for people who need to know more about what they are eating, that they won't be consuming something that could potentially kill them. The fact that someone who has first hand knowledge of what allergens can do means developed this is important. It means the developer has a personal interest to make the app work.

The app is easy to download on your mobile devices and desktop

It brings urgent information from the FDA to people who need it and will benefit from it.

Disadvantages

· The app is available on Google Play store but since it only pulls information from the USA it is pretty useless to someone who doesn't live in the U.S. It might bring comfort to parents who have children with severe allergies but unless the parent is on hand all the time, it gets hard to check what the child eats. The app is designed to be easy to use but its focus on kids assuming that children will have their own smartphones to enable them to get alerts.

· There are numerous sites dedicated to food safety on the net and they offer email notifications to people who register on their sites and the information is more concise, this app will need to pull information from other sites instead of just from the FDA.

· It would be infinitely useful to engage parents and people with allergies to enable them to share information and experiences.

· The developers have not disclosed the amount of time the $4.99 buys you. Is it for a month, a year, or for life?

· The list of allergens is limited to food it gives little mention on other allergens like chili. It does not mention fruit allergies.

What are people saying?

The general consensus is that it is a very useful, life-changing app and will go a long way in helping avoid potentially harmful foods. The question the people ask is what to do with recalled food? The obvious answer is to return the purchases but that can be a frustrating exercise.

Verdict

The is a life changing app. Having it on your phone can save you life or the life of a loved one with food allergies.

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