Fourteen-day meal rewind

You are a senior product engineer. Turn the product idea below into a locally runnable MVP.

## Idea

Fourteen-day meal rewind
Turns photos, receipts, and orders into a recent meal timeline for documenting the diet history needed during a Cyclospora outbreak.

## Product concept

People who have just seen a Cyclospora outbreak notice and want to recall what they recently ate can import their photo library, delivery orders, and supermarket receipts in sequence. The page reconstructs the previous fourteen days of meals like turning back a calendar, with salads, fresh produce, restaurant names, and purchase locations clearly marked. Users can add dining companions and symptom dates, then export a concise one-page record to show directly to a doctor or public health official. Unlike ongoing food journals, it rebuilds the timeline from records that already exist.

## Why now (backed by facts)

On July 8, the FDA added two Cyclospora foodborne outbreak investigations for products that had not yet been confirmed and started traceback efforts. State-level data disclosed the same day showed more than 1,000 combined cases in Michigan and Ohio, while the source remained unidentified. With search volume at approximately 200,000+ and approximately 600% higher, the CDC investigation also explicitly asks people to recall the fourteen days before symptom onset and recommends preparing records such as calendars, restaurant receipts, and supermarket receipts. That makes it especially timely to turn scattered evidence into a usable food timeline.

## Direction (model inference, not independently verified)

Target user: People who receive a Cyclospora outbreak alert and need to recall recent meals for a doctor or public health official will open it while preparing visit information.

Minimal entry point: The first version imports the past fourteen days of photos, delivery orders, and receipts, lists restaurants, stores, and fresh produce records by date, and exports a one-page timeline.

The strongest case against: The strongest case against this is that photos, receipts, and orders may not cover every meal, so the final timeline will still miss food with no digital record.

These are the model's inferences from the idea itself and the verified facts. Treat them as directional hypotheses against real constraints: do not assume the strongest counter-argument is already solved, and do not write them into the product as certainty.

## Punching above weight (model inference)

Offer a locally processed fourteen-day lookback template around outbreak names and searches such as "what did I eat," then let the exported doctor-communication page spread naturally among households and dining companions.

## Competitors & gaps (model inference)

- Cara Care: Cara Care records diet and symptoms over time to help users observe relationships. This idea handles reverse recall after a sudden outbreak by rebuilding the past fourteen days from existing photos, orders, and receipts.
- Cibario: Cibario uses a photo-first approach to record everyday meals. This idea does not require users to keep records in advance. Instead, they build a timeline after receiving an outbreak notice that they can share with a doctor.

## How it makes money (model inference)

One timeline export is free; charge a subscription for encrypted storage of multiple lookback records.

## Trend background

Theme: Cyclospora parasite outbreak
Trigger query (original English): cyclospora parasite outbreak
Approx. search volume: 200000+ (approximate)
Approx. increase: +600% (approximate)

The trend data is a historical snapshot from the moment it was captured; volume and increase are approximate and only explain “why now.” Do not write them into product copy as precise market numbers.

## Sources

- Investigations of Foodborne Illness Outbreaks (https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigations-foodborne-illness-outbreaks)
- Outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite grows to more than 1,000 cases (https://apnews.com/article/cyclospora-outbreak-michigan-31e5e0034d39e85c844065a2bd593ecb)
- Cyclosporiasis National Hypothesis Generating Questionnaire (https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/media/pdfs/2024/05/CNHGQ-2023.pdf)

## Deliverables

- Before you start, distill 3–5 verifiable acceptance criteria from the concept and minimal entry point above, list them, and walk through them one by one on delivery.
- Ship the core flow described by the minimal entry point first, so the core user can get through it; leave out generic systems (accounts, payments, admin) unless they are truly necessary.
- Do not show unverified market numbers in the UI or API.
- Keep key copy calm and verifiable; when the product needs domain facts or safety guidance, adapt them from the Sources list or equivalent authoritative pages and cite them — do not write them from general knowledge.
- If building inside an existing project: read the README, dependencies and conventions first; follow the existing stack and style, and do not refactor unrelated code.
- If the current directory is empty: pick a lightweight stack and prioritize a runnable prototype.
- When done, explain what changed, how to run it, and how to verify it.
- Ask only when an ambiguity would genuinely change the product direction; make ordinary implementation calls yourself.

Turns photos, receipts, and orders into a recent meal timeline for documenting the diet history needed during a Cyclospora outbreak.

Published July 10, 2026 · 3 sources

People who have just seen a Cyclospora outbreak notice and want to recall what they recently ate can import their photo library, delivery orders, and supermarket receipts in sequence. The page reconstructs the previous fourteen days of meals like turning back a calendar, with salads, fresh produce, restaurant names, and purchase locations clearly marked. Users can add dining companions and symptom dates, then export a concise one-page record to show directly to a doctor or public health official. Unlike ongoing food journals, it rebuilds the timeline from records that already exist.

Why now

On July 8, the FDA added two Cyclospora foodborne outbreak investigations for products that had not yet been confirmed and started traceback efforts. State-level data disclosed the same day showed more than 1,000 combined cases in Michigan and Ohio, while the source remained unidentified. ^S1^S2 With search volume at approximately 200,000+ and approximately 600% higher, the CDC investigation also explicitly asks people to recall the fourteen days before symptom onset and recommends preparing records such as calendars, restaurant receipts, and supermarket receipts. That makes it especially timely to turn scattered evidence into a usable food timeline. ^S3

Target user

People who receive a Cyclospora outbreak alert and need to recall recent meals for a doctor or public health official will open it while preparing visit information.

Minimal entry point

The first version imports the past fourteen days of photos, delivery orders, and receipts, lists restaurants, stores, and fresh produce records by date, and exports a one-page timeline.

Punching above its weight

Offer a locally processed fourteen-day lookback template around outbreak names and searches such as "what did I eat," then let the exported doctor-communication page spread naturally among households and dining companions.

Competitors & gaps

Cara Care: Cara Care records diet and symptoms over time to help users observe relationships. This idea handles reverse recall after a sudden outbreak by rebuilding the past fourteen days from existing photos, orders, and receipts.
Cibario: Cibario uses a photo-first approach to record everyday meals. This idea does not require users to keep records in advance. Instead, they build a timeline after receiving an outbreak notice that they can share with a doctor.

How it makes money

One timeline export is free; charge a subscription for encrypted storage of multiple lookback records.

The case against

The strongest case against this is that photos, receipts, and orders may not cover every meal, so the final timeline will still miss food with no digital record.