Patent ID: 7617132

Claim:
A method for providing consumers having food allergies, medical conditions, or dietary concerns with information about food products prior to purchasing or consuming such products, said method comprising: providing food products with smart tags, the smart tags being associated with information regarding the food product that is of interest to consumers with food allergies, medical conditions, or dietary concerns; scanning the food products prior to purchase or consumption with a smart tag scanner, the scanner configured to retrieve the food product information associated with the smart tags and to store the consumer's specific personal profile; providing the consumer's specific personal profile containing data stored only on the smart tag scanner, the data regarding the consumer's food allergies and medical conditions or medications taken by the consumer that are affected by food products or require particular dietary requirements; conveying at least portions of the food product information to the consumer, including having the smart tag scanner alone compare the scanned food product information with the consumer specific profile and alerting the consumer with the scanner if any scanned food product is incompatible with any one of the consumer's food allergies, medications, or medical conditions; and wherein the smart tag scanner is a portable hand-held, unit that is personally owned and maintained in the possession of the consumer and brought by the consumer to the place of purchase or consumption of the food products, wherein the consumer's specific food product profile is stored on a smart card scanned by the consumer's scanner and wherein a commercial business providing the food products previously has given the scanner to the consumer.