User-documented food consumption data from publicly available apps: an analysis of opportunities and challenges for nutrition research.

Background: The need for a better understanding of food consumption behaviour within its behavioural context has sparked the interest of nutrition researchers for user-documented food consumption data collected outside the research context using publicly available nutrition apps. The study aims to characterize the scientific, technical, legal and ethical features of this data in order to identify the opportunities and challenges associated with using this data for nutrition research.

Method: A search for apps collecting food consumption data was conducted in October 2016 against UK Google Play and iTunes storefronts.