We all do the best we can to stay knowledgeable about the foods we eat, but most of us, no matter how much we learn, will still come face to face with something that looks really good and wonder: "is this bad for me?"

You could pay a nutrition expert to follow you around all the time, guiding you through every food purchase (and some people do that), but if that's not your style, you can still get those pressing questions answered simply by using your cell phone.

At least that's the new trend in Japan. People there are snapping photos of their food with cell phone cameras, and sending those photos to experts who evaluate their eating habits. The experts work with food photos from a few days -- even a few weeks -- and give feedback on what you're doing right, and where you need to improve. It's hoped that this more modern version of a food diary is more accurate than one that relies on patients being accurate in their descriptions or recollections of what they ate.

If it works, we may see it in more countries with plenty of cell phones, and plenty of citizens that could afford to lose a few pounds.