About

The Sifter Story

Get to know the people and the science behind our solutions

Who We Are

The Sifter pedigree is rooted in the transformational success of Peapod, the country's first online grocery service. Founded in 1989 by brothers Andrew and Thomas Parkinson, Peapod was an ecommerce pioneer, allowing consumers to enjoy the convenience and value of grocery shopping on their own terms—anytime, anywhere. In launching Peapod, Andrew and Thomas sought to fundamentally improve people’s lives by making it easier to shop.
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Today, the Parkinson brothers are putting the same passion and innovation behind Sifter. Joined by registered dietitian nutritionist Judy Seybold and former Peapod executives Jon Wilson, Tim Franklin and John Furton, they've created a powerful, science-based shopping platform designed to make healthy eating easy for everyone.

Andrew Parkinson

Founder & Managing Partner

Thomas Parkinson

Founder & Chief Product Officer

Judy Seybold

Chief Nutrition Officer

MS, RD, LD, CLC

Photo of the Sifter employees

Core Values

Innovating for Better Health

We believe diverse backgrounds and perspectives foster thinking that leads to innovation. We succeed as a team of unique individuals, brought together by a shared desire to help people achieve better health.

We Can Do It

Inventing new ways to do things can be hard, but we are up for the challenge. We push hard and overcome all obstacles and skeptics to achieve our common goals—for our customers and for each other.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

We strive to operate ethically, with transparency, compassion and respect toward each other, our customers, and our partners. We take pride in our work and hold ourselves accountable.

Getting Chowdy

"Chowdy" is all about finding balance. We're passionate about everyone nurturing their mental health by unplugging and decompressing with activities that make them happy. For more about Chowdy, continue reading→

How we do it

Evidence-based science is at the heart of everything we do

In creating the Sifter platform, our team of nutrition experts and developers incorporated the evidence-based recommendations given by dietitians and doctors for a wide variety of health conditions. Sifter systematically matches hundreds of dietary filters against a person’s personal preferences across hundreds of thousands of grocery products. In effect, Sifter will read and accurately analyze product labels in seconds, no matter how complex the diet request may be. The proprietary algorithms rely on complete product records that have been curated prior to input and analysis of nutrition facts, ingredients, allergen, certification, product claims and dietary logic. Sifter then delivers a personalized product subset for the shopper's consideration.
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Unlike other syndicated attribution programs, Sifter filters multiple attributes on the same product by medical health diets, medication interactions, lifestyle diets, allergens, religious diets, and responsible practices in a single search. Accuracy of results is assured, and the process is simple, transparent, and consistent.
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Many additional factors differentiate and elevate Sifter’s technology platform:

Science-based

Our dietary filters are based on recognized resources used in clinical practices in the field of nutrition, so the user's experience mirrors consultation with a registered dietitian.

Each SiftTag is based on principles from the Nutrition Care Manual of Clinical Dietetics produced by the EatRightPro organization in addition to hospital practices.

Position papers and scientific summaries and concepts are drawn from the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library online resources, American Cancer Society, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), The Whole Grains Council, Oldways Heritage Diets, Food Marketing Institute (FMI), and International Food Information Council (IFIC).

Depending on the specific diet and/or meal plan, appropriate resources are used such as PubMed Central (managed by the National Center for Biotechnology information), Natural Medicine Research Database, USFDA Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 21, Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE), Kids With Food Allergies (KFA), and other leading nonprofit organizations.

Quality-controlled

We follow a disciplined quality assurance methodology, and machine learning logic is applied to data prior to any assessment. Rule-setting is developed and validated by registered licensed dietitians.

Customer data files are reviewed manually after an automated scoring for logic application.

We engage our brand partners to verify that product data is current and accurate.

Comprehensive

Diet filter eligibility means that the product can be included when used as part of a total diet.

Overall dietary concepts are factored in with additional rules and algorithms, such as whole grain, no sugar added, etc. Many medical diets filter out products with excesses in added sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars by using "filters" in addition to the algorithm rules.

Extensive logic is applied that includes a relevancy to search results that will generate the best consumer experience and product display for the selected diet.

Trusted

Our Medical Advisory Board, composed of medical academics, practitioners, and industry leaders, work with Sifter leadership to ensure our platform remains at the forefront of evidence-based science and diet trends. The Medical Advisory Board reinforces Sifter's commitment to nutrition science and helping all consumers lead their best lives.

We partner with credible health care organizations and professionals to support the growing focus on "food as medicine" and whose expertise further enhances Sifter's sifting technology.

Sifter is the only data provider to receive Validation Institute's prestigious FoodMed Certification.

Advancing Food as Medicine through technology

Sifter is a founding member of FoodMed Certified, the first certification and validation initiative for Food as Medicine programs.

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