I throw out more expired food than I like to admit, but half the time, it’s because I can’t remember when I bought it, and can’t tell if it’s spoiled or not. This new, “intelligent” plastic could fix that.
Developed by British professor Andrew Mills, this bag stores food and reacts to changes in the food chemicals or the oxygen levels inside the bag. When the those changes reach a certain point, the bag changes color. And if you have yet to open the food in question, it will also change color if its seal has been broken.
The UK government says its citizens waste over 400,000 tons of food a year, nearly 40,000 tons of which was never opened. They estimate this bag could help reduce waste by 8.3 tons in the UK. [Daily Mail]
