A few months have passed since the launch of Repère, the Food product directory for informed choices. This free tool, designed to help registered dietitians select and recommend healthy, nutritious food products tailored to their patients’ needs, is really taking off!

To date, nearly 520 registered dietitians are using the tool. All areas of practice are represented.

• 78% of users work in clinical nutrition: the tool allows them to identify food products that meet very specific nutritional criteria
• 8% of users work in public health nutrition: thanks to Repère, it is possible to verify whether nutrition targets associated with a policy or initiative are realistic or achievable.
• 7% of users work in nutrition education and research: the tool makes it possible to analyze products that meet the needs of specific targeted individuals.
• 2% of users work in food service management: Using Repère, it is possible to determine which products can be offered to specific clientele while meeting established nutritional guidelines.
• 1% of users work in communications: the tool allows to list products that could serve as good examples to cite.
• 1% of users work in nutrition within the agri-food and biopharmaceutical sectors: Repère makes it possible to identify products against which to compare a new product under development.

With access to nearly 6,000 food products available in Quebec, Repère lets you sort these products by specific nutritional criteria, specific ingredients, or other product attributes.

The most searched-for food categories to date are:

• granola bars ;
• breakfast cereals ;
• slices bread ;
• crackers ;
• cookies.

Registered dietitians appear to be seeking to equip themselves to provide better advise to their patients regarding foods offered for breakfast or as snacks.

In terms of allergens, milk, gluten, soy, wheat, and nuts were the most frequently selected. The attributes most commonly used are “free of additives not recommended”, “free of additives to avoid”, “free of artificial sweeteners”, “free of artificial colors”, and “free of emulsifiers”.

This usage data allows us to better address the interests and needs of registered dietitians in relation to the data generated by the Observatory. A survey is now available within the tool to gather feedback on its use. This feedback will help us improve the tool and make it even more relevant to the practice of registered dietitians.

The data in Repère is regularly updated with the latest supply tracking data for each category, even before the reports are published. This allows users to access the most up-to-date data as quickly as possible!

Are you a registered dietitians and you have not used Repère yet? Log in with your ODNQ license number (French only): www.repere.observatoire.inaf.ulaval.ca