Engineers from the Fraunhofer Society created a pocket scanner that will allow you to almost instantly check for freshness with infrared radiation. The development will reduce the amount of food that people throw out every day, not being sure that it is fresh.

According to the Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations, a third of all food produced in the world is thrown away. This is about 1.3 billion tons per year. In developed countries, where the percentage of waste is highest, the annual waste disposal costs are $ 680 billion.

One of the reasons why people throw food away is that they are fresh. Partially solve this problem will allow the Fraunhofer scanner, which is based on high-precision near-infrared sensor. An infrared beam hits the food and reflected light is measured by the IR spectrum. Comparing the absorption spectrum from food with a known sample, the device can determine not the freshness of food, but also the degree of its maturity and authenticity. For example, the device is able to distinguish trout issued for salmon.

Researchers have reduced the size of the device and found a way to reduce the cost of its production.

Earlier, scientists from the University of California, together with the Chinese technology company United Imaging Healthcare, created the first scanner, capable of obtaining a three-dimensional image of the entire human body in a few seconds.

hightech.fm