An innovative technology made headlines recently by allegedly offering users the ability to measure the quality of olive oil.
The device comes from China, where there is an enormous problem with illegally reprocessed cooking oil appearing in markets. Consumers unknowingly purchase approximately 3.5-million tons of it in the country each year.
This issue motivated Baidu, an online search-engine company, to develop chopsticks that can determine whether consumers are eating quality olive oil. Baidu CEO Robin Li showed off the Baidu Kuaisou prototype at the annual Baidu World Technology Conference.
The chopsticks have been fitted with sensors that take olive oil readings. Users can connect the chopsticks to a special smartphone app, which analyzes olive oil and provides data about its safety. Possible readings include "excellent" and "bad," depending on whether the olive oil is contaminated or not.
The chopsticks use specific indicators, such as pH level, peroxide level and temperature, to determine the oil's safety. Zhong Nanshan, a Chinese health and food safety expert, warned the Yangcheng Evening News that producers of unsafe oil can add chemicals to create false readings. Nanshan discovered the SARS virus in 2003.
Baidu got the idea to develop the prototype after releasing a satirical commercial about a similar product on April Fools' Day. The company made the decision to manufacture the Baidu Kuaisou based on the reaction to the commercial by consumers and food-safety experts. The Olive Oil Times reports Baidu has not started to mass produce the chopsticks yet and it is unclear whether the company intends to do so.
