Chinese search giant Baidu has developed a pair of high-tech chopsticks for testing the safety of food.
The device, called Kuaisou in Chinese, is designed for detecting oils that have dangerous levels of contamination, according to The Wall Street Journal. Robin Li, CEO of Baidu, introduced the smart chopsticks at the firm's annual technology conference, where he referred to the invention in a speech on Wednesday as "a new way to sense the world."
"In the future, via Baidu Kuaisou, you'll be able to know the origin of oil and water and other foods- whether they've gone bad or what sort of nutrition they contain," he said.
The electronic chopsticks were displayed in a new video released by Baidu, which showed a user placing them in three different cups of cooking oil, Discovery News reported. Sensors are included for detecting the oil's temperature and if it is healthy to consume. A smartphone app then displays the results.
A spokesman for Baidu said that a red light flashes on the chopsticks when the cooking oil's total polar materials (TPMs), which determines the freshness of the oil, is higher than 25 percent.
China has been facing several issues involving food safety, such as toxic milk and pork that glows in the dark, The Wall Street Journal reported. A cook at a hotel in Hangzhou was put on trial earlier this month for painting food with "inedible pigment" to make the food more attractive to eat.
Another health issue is the making of "gutter oil," cooking oil illegally produced through reprocessing waste oil or marking leftovers as new, Discovery News reported. A crackdown was launched last year on gutter oil manufacturing, resulting in over 100 arrests. Of those 100, 20 were sentenced to prison, including two life sentences.
Baidu said the chopsticks will be updated to measure other factors, such as PH levels, temperatures, and calories, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The company added that they have not yet made enough of the chopsticks for mass production. The price and release date for the device are currently unknown.
