This small gadget will scan your food for unwanted chemicals and trans fats
TellSpec is an interesting gadget that scans your food and let you know if the food is safe before you buy food. TellSpec can scan food and report if there is sodium, gluten or trans fats above limit. And no, you cannot use this one to check arsenic in Maggi. For that, you need to go to a proper laboratory and have right equipment to test. TellSpec combines a spectrometer with unique algorithm that can detect allergens, chemicals, nutrient, calories and ingredients in food (best of luck trying this on south Indian dishes). An application on your smartphone will then show you the result of the scan. You can also setup TellSpec to track daily calorie intake, track what you eat, track essential vitamins and minerals from food that you eat etc. TellSpec can be pre-ordered from http://tellspec.com/special-order/ and will cost $349. Do note that this comes with 1 year free subscription to unlimited analysis of food. The future cost of a subscription is currently planned to be $7.99 per month or $69.99 per year.
How does this gadget work? Well, this is what the team that developed TellSpec has to say:
Light is made up of particles called photons. When you beam the low-powered laser in the TellSpec scanner at the food, some of the photons are absorbed, raising the energy states of the molecules in the food. Lower energy photons are then reflected back. The spectrometer inside the TellSpec scanner sorts these photons by wavelength and counts them. The resulting numbers, called a spectrum, describe the chemical compounds in the food. Spectrum is uploaded to our analysis engine where it is analyzed and correlated with other reference spectra. Information about the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in the food is then downloaded to you and displayed on your smart phone. TellSpec responds to your specific food requirements and preferences. TellSpec is a smart system that learns as you use it, so that you see the information that is of most interest to you.
The following video will show you TellSpec in action: