calorie counting has been popular in the US for years, ever since people started making the connection between what they eat and the diseases they've been getting. There are even websites that will help you do the counting and logging by storing nutritional information and doing the math. But as you can imagine, your average calorie counter doesn't know how big of a portion he or she just ate - not to mention that they may have eaten a food not listed in the database. How to fix an imperfect system? With cell phone cameras, of course!

Tech2.com is reporting that the Japanese government has set up a program in the Osaka region where heart attack, diabetes and obesity patients take pictures of the meals they're eating by their cell phones and send them to nutritionists, who make professional determinations about the health value of the food. The response takes three days to process, so it won't stop you from taking what could be the fatal bite at the last second, but it does give you an overall picture of your health.