Monday, April 18, 2011

Food Safety

Useful package design is an important part of every day. We rely on so many things to give us information about what we buy. For most people, when something is hard to understand they most likely will not buy it. We all buy groceries every so often, and browsing through the meat aisle I find myself digging through pounds of ground beef, chicken breasts, and bacon trying to find the most appealing package. If you think about it, meat has a pretty short shelf life, unless you freeze it. Most of us do not take the time to look at the label that tells us when the product should expire. Well, someone finally found an intelligent solution - labels that change to reflect the freshness of the meat. The label resembles an hour glass that is white at its freshest and slowly turns blue at the bottom when the product is bad covering up the barcode so that it won't scan. At a quick glance, it is readily apparent if the meat is no longer fresh.


What I like about this concept is the simple ease of information. It's not that people are unintelligent, but that sometimes we do not have time to sift through all the info to see if what we are going to eat is still good. Where I think an idea like this could really be useful is on vegetable and fruit skin, like the label would change color according to the amount of enzymes released from the fruit when it starts to rot. One challenge to this is of course how much it would cost to make something like this and get producers to use it. I'm not sure how much it cost, but if it works in Japan, I don't see why we couldn't have it here. Although I will agree that the Japanese are way ahead of us in technology and innovative designs, I'm sure someone could come up with something useful and savvy.

15 comments:

  1. I totally agree with you.The same thing goes with things around the house especially medication and can and boxed food, things you think can last forever or at least a few years. Last summer I had a mosquito bite and put some anti-itch on it and later found out that it expired in the late 90's. (I have since gone thru and checked everything that could possibly expire in my cabinets.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is really interesting. One in six Americans falls victim to food-related illness every year. I also read about, how those who have smartphones could scan the barcode to see where the food is coming from before it is placed on the shelves.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like this idea...it kind of goes along with our society's shortening attention span that I think we've mentioned a few times in blogging. Everything needs to be quick and readable now. No more little hidden expiration dates please.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That would be a cool idea. I had no idea they could do that type of labeling now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That is very cool. Unfortunately grocery stores probably would not jump to use it because they may loose sales on the meat that is about to be taken off the shelf. Someone should come up with a way to sell these separate so you can repackage your meat in a bag with these in it. That way you could use them at home as a way to know the age of your meat. GREAT idea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those labels are really clever. You are right in that their simplicity is what makes them so effective and attractive. Why can't we have that here? Shanna you are probably right about grocery stores not wanting to lose sales. Jessica, you should invent the first fruit rotting detector label.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love those labels -- that's a brilliant concept! I wish they could get implemented across other things, and across the world. Unfortch, as Shanna said, most grocery stores won't likely be willing to lose sales on meat that is about to be taken off the shelf. On the other hand, a grocery store that did use the labels could inspire a lot of customer loyalty, which could translate into more sales (on other items and on multiple visits) in the future. It's a matter of thinking long-term.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's too bad that as a society we aren't willing to go forward and change to things that are good for us (i.e. labels telling us when things are expiring) because there are too many effects (grocery stores won't be able to sell & will lose money, etc.). There are so many inventions that are good for us but we can't afford or can't make room for.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very intriguing post!
    Fortunately I do not have to hassle with the experience of finding the freshest cuts of meat because I am vegetarian, but I often wonder exactly when some of the fruits and veggies in some farm stands were really put out, so i think the packaging awareness idea could possibly be applied to other fresh foods as well!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Uncanny - I just had a friend who works at a bakery propose a similar sort of thing for takeout containers.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow, this is a really cool concept! I often find myself at the grocery store wondering how old products are like meat. It will be interesting to see if this really makes its way to the U.S.

    ReplyDelete
  12. That is genius! I'm always freaked out/wondering when the meat I buy actually goes bad.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The designs are really creative. I think it's great that this works to benefit the health of the consumers. Since that is rarely the priority of the company.

    ReplyDelete
  14. One thing I find dissapointing is the nutrition data on packages. Why are they so small and hard to understand (if they are there at all)?!

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is genius! I am too disappointed with the proper nutrition information on packaging. I hate that I have to use my phone to grocery shop these days to get the proper information, I mean the vast array of apps are great, but I really just want to look at the labels and be done with it.

    ReplyDelete