Also known as health promoters, peer educators such as Huynh are proving particularly effective at helping newcomers overcome such barriers as lack of insurance, confusion about the U.S. health care system, insufficient information on potentially life-saving cancer screenings and even cultural taboos that make it difficult for some women to acknowledge and seek medical help.

FORBES: Immigrant Health Messengers Jump the Culture Gaps

Completing the Orwellian circle, the proposed system also interacts with servers in the FDA and health insurance companies to gain information about specific food products or policy changes.

ENGADGET: IBM wins diet monitoring and reward patent, celebrates with sip of Spirulina