How smart tags can indicate food spoilage
Learn about scientific research into smart tags, small gel-like tags on food packaging that change colour to indicate spoilage occurring inside the containers.
© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
-
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Learn about the history of the periodic table.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.It can take two hours for the Moon to completely pass through the Earth's inner shadow.
-
© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Some spiders seem to “gallop” across the surface of water.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Learn about nutritious foods that contribute to a healthy and balanced diet.
-
© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)An overview of food preservation.
-
University College Cork, Ireland (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A discussion of the foods that Saint Patrick and his contemporaries likely ate during the early Middle Ages in Ireland.
-
© MinuteEarth (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Applying the freezing process to the problem of food preservation, especially as part of the industrial method designed by American businessman and inventor Clarence Birdseye.
Transcript
SPEAKER: You've tossed it out. You've poured it out. And sometimes you've even spit it out. Spoiled foods and drinks can dense your budget and shock your senses.
Now, researchers in China have invented a color coded smart tag that could tell consumers if a product is spoiled without having to open the container. The gel-like tag, shown off at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, are about the size of a kernel of corn.
They contain metallic nanorods that change color over time as they react, mimicking the length of time that microbes grow in foods. The tags also take into account temperature fluctuations that would spoil a product before its expiration date.
They started with milk, but researchers at Peking University in Beijing say the tags can be customized for a variety of other foods and beverages, and even medicine. The tags can be programmed to react to almost any common temperature conditions. The smart tags are also incredibly cheap, costing about a fifth of a penny each.
Now, researchers in China have invented a color coded smart tag that could tell consumers if a product is spoiled without having to open the container. The gel-like tag, shown off at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, are about the size of a kernel of corn.
They contain metallic nanorods that change color over time as they react, mimicking the length of time that microbes grow in foods. The tags also take into account temperature fluctuations that would spoil a product before its expiration date.
They started with milk, but researchers at Peking University in Beijing say the tags can be customized for a variety of other foods and beverages, and even medicine. The tags can be programmed to react to almost any common temperature conditions. The smart tags are also incredibly cheap, costing about a fifth of a penny each.