CLEVER Eye Institute

Press Release

SLIDELL, Louisiana, February 17, 2014 - The CLEVER Eye Institute of Slidell, Louisiana has been invited to present the new Eye Q food certification program during the scientific sessions of the 75th Annual Meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT 2014). The Eye Q presentation will take place in the New Products and Technologies Showcase Session in the IFT Exposition Hall on June 23 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Over 18,0000 members belong to the IFT, making the IFT Exposition one of the largest food industry meetings in the world. The Eye Q program helps consumers to more easily identify eye healthy foods by using an "Eye Q Score" to indicate the benefits of each serving of a food product. The team of investigators working on the Eye Q project are Michael K. Smolek, PhD, FARVO; Neil F. Notaroberto, MD; Mark Siverd, OD, and Earl J. (Ty) Primo, OD of the CLEVER Eye Institute.

 

According to Dr. Smolek, Director of Research at CLEVER and the lead scientist on the project, "This is the first program that is specifically designed to promote improved eye health through a food certification process that includes the use of a point system to rank the nutritional qualities of various foods. The method we use considers both the good and bad qualities of foods, and it also takes into account the nutritional content in a single serving size that a person eats at one time, rather than a percentage of the recommended total daily amount for a specific nutrient. This makes it easier for the average person to know how much of a benefit they get by choosing one food over another. There are some consumers who believe that only a small number of specific foods such as carrots, spinach, and kale are specifically considered to be eye healthy foods, but in fact, there are many different foods that are beneficial for your eyes and therefore beneficial to maintaining good vision."

 

With the release of the Eye Q project to the public, Dr. Notaroberto, Medical Director of CLEVER stated, "This is not just a program designed to help those people with failing vision. It is a program designed to help everyone who wants to maintain good vision over a lifetime. The time to think about eating eye healthy foods is when your eyes are still healthy. If you wait until your vision is already starting to diminish, you've lost a golden opportunity to preserve good vision."

 

With Eye Q certification, consumers will be able to identify eye healthy foods from package labeling that is licensed by CLEVER to companies that submit their products for certification. The Eye Q program also establishes a scoring system of points assigned to each food product that it certifies. Consumers can use these scores to compare food products, as well as track their consumption of eye healthy foods over time. Foods with an Eye Q score of 100 points are at the threshold for certification as an eye healthy food, while foods that are between 150 and 200 Eye Q points are considered to be among the very best foods to eat often for eye health. All foods are certified for typical serving sizes so consumers can better track the value of what they actually eat at each meal.

 

The CLEVER Eye Institute will be reaching out to food producers, grocers, nutritionists, and others working in the food industry to bring the Eye Q program into widespread use. Those interested in learning more about Eye Q can visit the CLEVER Eye Institute website at www.clevereyeinstitute.com/certification/ where examples are shown of the certification labeling and the Eye Q scores for a variety of whole food products.

 

Founded in 2011, the mission of the CLEVER Eye Institute is to investigate innovative and overlooked approaches to improve vision and to end blindness. For additional information about our mission, visit the CLEVER Eye Institute website at www.clevereyeinstitute.com.