How to determine the quality of the product? Color? Smell? Of course, but many disease-causing microorganisms and the quality of the product, do not always cause visible to the naked eye changes. In this case, it will help only by laboratory examination. Or a special film that will give you a second to understand before you clean product or one that is better to get rid of.
Responsible for the development of a team of scientists from McMaster University in Canada. Their film, at first glance, transparent and no different from the usual packaging films for products. But coming into contact with food contaminated with E. coli, food bacteria, and other pathogens, the film changes its color. The test is pretty simple: a film to wrap food and wait a few seconds. If the film changed the color — the food is infected. Despite the seeming simplicity of design, its creation took almost 15 years.
How does it work? For “quick diagnosis”, the researchers used microscopic constituents of DNA and company, located on a flexible plastic film. When the composition comes into contact with bacteria and their toxins — molecules of the film begin to glow. As the creators say, it really is rather convenient and practical method.
“Usually to determine the quality of the product, you need, process, attributed to the laboratory or to cultivate part of the sample to find the presence of bacteria and toxins and also spend a bunch more lab tests. Our goal is to avoid that. You can get information about the product here and now: just look at the packaging and understand the suitable foods to eat or not. And what it’s contaminated in the case of incompetence — not so important, in the long run.”
The new packaging will allow a second to identify spoiled food
Vladimir Kuznetsov