Tactile "Use-By Date" Label "enabling visually impaired consumers" invented Is this the end for use-by dates? Young inventor develops 'Bump Mark' label which can tell you whether your food is off with the swipe of a finger http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2759902/Is-end-use-dates-Young-inven tor-develops-Bump-Mark-label- tell-food-swipe-finger.html Solveiga Pakstaite's label changes texture as food inside packet goes off Sticker starts off smooth but over time develops bumps as gelatine decays The 22-year-old graduate was inspired after working with blind people She is the British winner of James Dyson Award for product design Miss Pakstaite has won £2,000 in prize money and has applied for a patent By Ben Spencer for the Daily Mail Published: 18:19 EST, 17 September 2014 | Updated: 18:52 EST, 17 September 2014 {Some texts are pix captions.} She is barely out of university, but a bright young inventor has come up with an idea that could spell the end of use-by dates on food. Solveiga Pakstaite, 22, has developed a label that changes texture as the food inside the packet goes off. The sticker, which contains gelatine, starts off smooth but over time develops bumps as the gelatine decays. How it works: The sticker, which contains gelatine, starts off smooth but over time develops bumps as the gelatine decays. A smooth label means the food is good to eat and a lumpy label shows it should go in the bin A smooth label means the food is good to eat and a lumpy label shows it should go in the bin - meaning someone can tell simply with a swipe of a finger whether their food is out of date. Miss Pakstaite, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, said: 'I wanted to create a label that would change its texture over time to model the decay process of food and drink. 'Why gelatine? Because it is a protein, so it decays at the same rate as protein-based foods like pork, milk and cheese. 'And the gelatine can be adapted to match the expiry period of the food by altering the concentration. 'So, the higher the concentration, the longer the gel will stay solid. The label simply copies what the food in the package is doing, so the expiry information is going to be far more accurate than a printed date.' Inventor: University graduate Solveiga Pakstaite, 22, pictured, has developed a label that changes texture as the food inside the packet goes off The graduate, whose Lithuanian parents are computer scientists, has applied for a patent for her idea and is talking to several firms about developing it commercially. If it is taken up, it could help to solve the vast waste problem created by inaccurate use-by dates. Seven million tons of food are thrown away every year in Britain, costing around £480 per family. Miss Pakstaite, who finished her degree in design and technology at Brunel University in London this summer, said her inspiration for the Bump Mark label came after working with blind people during her course. 'I wanted to create a solution for enabling visually impaired consumers to gain expiry information about their food, as currently the only indication is a printed date,' she said. 'From the start, I knew that the solution must appeal to sighted people also, because the sad reality is that new solutions only get implemented by companies if the benefits are useful to the majority. 'This is why I worked to create a cheap solution that could be applied to existing food packages and also provides information that even sighted people haven't had access to before: information about the actual condition of food.' Miss Pakstaite is today announced as the British winner of the James Dyson Award for product design, winning £2,000 in prize money. She will now be entered into Dyson's international contest. The label's design went through more than 20 versions before it was submitted to the Dyson judges. Answer? The Bump Mark label could help to solve the vast waste problem created by inaccurate use-by dates. Seven million tons of food are thrown away every year in Britain, costing around £480 per family Last year a report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers blamed use-by dates for the waste of edible food. It found up to half the food we buy in supermarkets goes in the bin despite much of it being perfectly edible. The report said: 'There is confusion over labelling and sell-by dates, with many people opting to throw away perfectly good food.' Comments (11) ... How wonderful! And the chemists at Cargill and Tyson will never figure out how to defeat the indicator and add the necessary chemical neutralizer. Good luck with the patent, I've had a couple, they just charge you more every year to keep it up and the moment you feel it's becoming too costly and dump it you suddenly see your item in the shops, repatented and manufactured by soeone else. ... If the gelatin decays at the same rate the product inside decays, doesn't that mean that the special labels must be EXACTLY the same age as the product, so unused labels must be thrown away daily, and replaced with fresh ones daily to coincide with the fresh produce? ... Having worked in a supermarket and witnessed first hand the disgusting amount of perfectly edible food that is thrown away( not only by supermarkets but by people who have been fooled into thinking a use by date is an accurate measure of freshness instead of using the senses that have worked so well for the last 50000 years) I can say that this is a brilliant idea and should definitely be implemented! Neato. I have seen dates get smeared and can no longer be read so I like this. Patent first then sell the product. Otherwise someone else will steal it. Clever Lady. But I use the senses I was given, Smell, touch and sight, wouldn't trust any of those use by dates, as they are usually so inaccurate. Very smart, but its easier and cheaper just to print a date on the label/box/packaging - If it's not broke, don't fix it. No thanks, looking at an expiration date is both faster and fail proof. Probably cheaper too than some silly gel that may or may not give an accurate prediction! ... (c) Associated Newspapers Ltd _______________________________________________ Cookinginthedark mailing list [email protected] http://acbradio.org/mailman/listinfo/cookinginthedark
[CnD] Here's a potentially very cool invention - with universal design!
Penny Reeder via Cookinginthedark Sat, 20 Sep 2014 17:42:38 -0700
