What is FoodTrack?

FoodTrack is a comprehensive food and nutrient database developed by The Heart Foundation in conjunction with the CSIRO. It supports the collection and monitoring of nutrition and product data for foods and beverages in Australian supermarkets.

The database contains accurate product data from fresh and packaged foods in major Australian supermarkets, such as: 

• Product descriptors (category, manufacturer, pack size) 
• Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) information 
• Ingredient lists 
• Front-of-pack labels 
• Images of the product and other relevant information, including multipacks and products with multiple NIPs. 

The Heart Foundation’s dietitians and nutritionists have collected data using FoodTrack since 2014, and update it on an annual basis, including new products. 

The FoodTrack platform comprises three key components: 

• An intelligent smartphone application (app) to collect data 
• A cloud-based database 
• A web-portal to access and audit the data collected 

FoodTrack fast facts

The details of over 18,000 products are collected annually, with new products captured and existing products updated. 

It covers over 80 food and beverage categories in major Australian supermarkets 

It includes a nationally representative sample of 90 per cent of the market within each category, based on collection in major metropolitan Victorian supermarkets. 

FoodTrack benefits

It’s efficient	The data processing time has more than halved, when compared to the previous model.
It’s accurate	Category error rates have improved from three per cent to one per cent.
It’s sustainable	The significant reductions in data entry time and costs have made it affordable to employ qualified field officers, and maintain annual data collection.

FoodTrack key achievements 

The Health Star Rating System 

The Health Star Rating System rates the overall nutritional profile of a food, from half a star to five stars. This gives you a simple way to compare similarly packaged foods and make an informed choice. 

The Health Star Rating System is a voluntary self-regulated front-of-pack labelling scheme developed by the Australian state and territory governments, working with industry, public health and consumer groups. 

Working with the Federal Government 

Since its launch in 2014, the importance and relevance of FoodTrack has been immediate. The Heart Foundation, together with CSIRO, has been engaged by the Federal Government to independently monitor the implementation of the voluntary front-of-pack labelling system – the Health Star Rating system, using the FoodTrack database. 

INFOODS Success Story Award 2015 

In 2015, FoodTrack received the INFOODS Success Stories Award for significant food composition achievements by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.