The purpose of this study is to develop a method that uses photography to accurately calculate the types and amounts of nutrients in meals that are consumed by healthy participants, thereby replacing the use of electronic food records.

Healthy adults;

Has a social security number or Tax ID number to receive compensation in the form of a check;

Age 18-65 years of age;

Lives anywhere in the United States of America;

Has been weight-stable (has not lost or gained 10% of body weight) within the past 3 months;

Currently owns a smart phone (Android or iPhone) with a built-in, working camera;

Has owned and used a smart phone for at least 12 months;

Consumes at least 3 meals per day;

Consumes at least 50% of meals that are prepared at/from home vs. outside the home (dine-in restaurants, take-out, etc.);

Prepares at least 50% of the prepared meals within their household;

Willingness to refrain from participating in any experimental trials during this study period;

Willingness to refrain from having any non-emergency, elective surgeries during the study period;

Willingness to eat different/variety of foods for each meal over the three days of dietary record collection;

Willingness to use an app linked to their smart phone’s camera and photo storage;

Willingness to spend 1-2 hours per day on each of the three study days to: 1) enter detailed information about each meal they consume using an online record system and an app on their smart phone and 2) take and upload photos of their meals on their smart phone;

Willingness to refrain from sharing meals with other participants during data collection;

Passes a food matching test on the online screening survey with score >70%.

Currently pregnant or plans to become pregnant several weeks prior to enrollment and during the study period;

History of any type of eating disorder (anorexia nervosa, bulimia, etc.);

Use of restrictive diets such as caloric restriction or intermittent fasting of more than 12 hours that has resulted in weight loss greater than 10% of their body weight within the past 3 months or diets.

This study involves collecting dietary data across three days. Participants will have up to four weeks to complete this study. Participants will be asked to record all of the food they consume on three different days (2 weekdays and 1 weekend) using an online diet record system. Participants will also be asked to take photographs of the same meals using an app on their smart phone and enter additional information about those meals into the app.

Participants will receive up to a $100 in the form of a check to complete the study activities.  

This project is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) and is part of the Artificial Intelligence Food Systems (AIFS) program.