Bracelet that tailors diet to your DNA

DON’T bother with a shopping list – an app could soon tell you what foods to buy based on your DNA.

It works by scanning the barcodes of supermarket products and indicating which may be unsuitable for those genetically susceptible to conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

The app is installed on either a smartphone or a bracelet-like device similar to a Fitbit.

Before using it, patients undergo a DNA test of their saliva to see whether they are very sensitive to sugar, salt, fat, carbohydrates or caffeine.

The results are put on the app. Patients then use their phone or bracelet to scan products before putting them into their trolley. If the device flashes red, the item should be avoided. A green light suggests the product is fine for their diet.

The DnaNudge app is being tested in London by patients with type 2 diabetes and certain mental health conditions. There have already been some calls in the UK for it to be routinely prescribed by GPs.

Professor Chris Toumazou, an electronic engineer from Imperial College London who designed the app, said: ‘It’s just well-known clinical evidence that if you’ve got the gene for cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure, you have to avoid salt.

‘If you’ve got the gene for obesity then saturated fat is very important.

‘If you’ve got the gene for type 2 diabetes then saturated fat and salt are culprits.’

But Dr Frances Elmslie of the UK’s Clinical Genetics Society said it should be used ‘with a degree of scepticism’, adding: ‘These apps at this stage are, I would say, too early to predict risk for a particular individual.

‘The science behind it has been based on populations.’