The CLEVER Eye Institute works with professionals in the food industry to certify their food products that meet CLEVER's nutritional guidelines. Foods that are certified as eye healthy are permitted to carry the Eye Q label. This label is typically displayed on product packaging or advertising (or both) as a means to inform the consumer the product is an eye healthy food. This is essentially the same method of using specific labeling to identify heart healthy foods.
Some processed food products contain nutrients that are known to be beneficial for eye health, but also contain too many non-beneficial ingredients that do not meet our standards (such as high amounts of sugar or salt). These products will fall below a score of 100, and therefore cannot display the Eye Q certification label even though we have calculated an Eye Q score for that product. Each food product that achieves a score of at least 100 and is permitted to display the certification label must continue to meet our high standards and reapply for certification each year, or sooner if substantive changes are made to the ingredients, serving size, or processing methods.
Typically, companies wishing to certify their foods should contact us for further information about the process. We require certain nutritional information, which is usually already available to meet industry labeling requirements. A third party can also collect the required bioassay information. Once we have this information we can determine the Eye Q score and issue a certification within 24 hours. We can certify multiple products at one time. We have preferred labeling available, however we can work with companies that have specific limitations concerning labeling size, orientation, color palettes, etc.
CLEVER provides an Eye Q score based on nutritional content for each certified food. The Eye Q ranks the value of the food for eye health, and we encourage the food industry to display the numerical score in addition to the certification label. The higher the Eye Q score, the more helpful the food is for providing the nutrition you need to maintain eye health. We are still conducting research into ways of using Eye Q scores to not only identify eye healthy products, but to total the score during a day or a week of eating meals in order to devise a complete system of eye healthy dieting.
The CLEVER Eye Institute will be providing Eye Q information for raw, unprocessed whole foods where certification has already been established s part of our research effort. This means that even without the Eye Q certification labeling, you'll know that many fresh produce items you buy have an Eye Q score that will be displayed at the point of sale or available through an app or our website. In general, canned or frozen foods are considered processed and require certification. Food producers that deal in unprocessed whole foods are encouraged to contact us so we can permit them access to the Eye Q certification labeling.
CLEVER plans to extend Eye Q into other areas involving the medical, nutritional, and food industries including medical groups, grocers, restaurants, industry news feeds, professional societies and associations, research partners, and even reaching out directly to home vegetable gardeners who grow much of their own food. We welcome opportunities to work with others who share our vision.
Contact us now: