Limerick students develop award winning food app

THREE Limerick teenagers have been praised for ‘keeping it real’, having invented an app to save time for people with dietary requirements. 

Lana Qaddoura (15), Laiba Mir (14) and Wagma Jan (14), all students at Coláiste Nano Nagle in Limerick city created an app called “Keepin’ it Halal”, which aims to conquer frustrations that Muslims often experience while food shopping. 

Their informative and time saving app identifies ingredients in food products by scanning the label and alerting shoppers if the food item is indeed halal or haram - the food beliefs which Muslims abide by for religious practices. 

Muslims choose to eat halal food because it meets requirements that they believe make it suitable for consumption. The “Keepin’ It Halal” app now provides a solution for rigorously checking certain food items while shopping. 

Currently their database offers information for 50 of the most popular items they regularly shop for but they are “continuing to work on the app and add in more and more products and information”.

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What came about as an after school project, the second year students developed their app with their Teen Turn Lead Mentor and teacher in the school Samantha Prior. 

Teen-Turn is an Irish non-profit organisation, which aims to provide teenage girls the opportunity to gain hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) experience - an area which historically lacked female involvement.

The Limerick teenagers also took their project to the BT Young Scientist and Technologist exhibition, which took place in early January, where they won the Food Safety Authority of Ireland special award.