Food-related illnesses aren’t uncommon. And they usually happen because someone cooked something that, for one reason or another, isn’t all that palatable for human consumption. Peres is a gadget that scans meats to test for freshness, determining whether it’s still suitable for cooking or if it’s actually time to leave it out for the neighborhood strays.
Billed as “the world’s first portable electronic nose,” the device can be used to detect the quality and freshness of pork, beef, chicken, and fish (no word on unicorn meat, but you can always try). No need to rely on your eyes and nose when trying to sort out a meat item’s condition — the device can make a more scientific assessment of whether it’s fresh, merely requires refrigeration, or potentially hazardous when consumed.
To use Peres, simply bring the handheld device close to the meat and press a button. Its onboard sensors (ammonia, temperature, humidity, and VOC) will sample the air around the meat, sending the readings over Bluetooth to an accompanying mobile app, which will then display detailed results, complete with recommendations about the product’s safety. Whether you want to check if the meat at the back of the freezer is still good (you can’t actually remember when you bought it) or the fresh meat the butcher sells is genuinely fresh, this little contraption is exactly the thing to help you figure everything out.
An Indiegogo campaign is currently running to fund a production run for Peres. Pledges to reserve a unit starts at $120.