London - She is barely out of university, but a bright young inventor has come up with an idea that could spell the end of use-by dates on food.
Solveiga Pakstaite, 22, has developed a label that changes texture as the food inside the packet goes off.
The sticker, which contains gelatine, starts off smooth but over time develops bumps as the gelatine decays.
A smooth label means the food is good to eat and a lumpy label shows it should go in the bin – meaning someone can tell simply with a swipe of a finger whether their food is out of date.
Pakstaite, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, said: “I wanted to create a label that would change its texture over time to model the decay process of food and drink.
“Why gelatine? Because it is a protein, so it decays at the same rate as protein-based foods like pork, milk and cheese.
“And the gelatine can be adapted to match the expiry period of the food by altering the concentration.
“So, the higher the concentration, the longer the gel will stay solid. The label simply copies what the food in the package is doing, so the expiry information is going to be far more accurate than a printed date.”
The graduate, whose Lithuanian parents are computer scientists, has applied for a patent for her idea and is talking to several firms about developing it commercially.
If it is taken up, it could help to solve the vast waste problem created by inaccurate use-by dates. Seven million tons of food are thrown away every year in Britain.
Pakstaite, who finished her degree in design and technology at Brunel University in London this summer, said her inspiration for the Bump Mark label came after working with blind people during her course.
“I wanted to create a solution for enabling visually impaired consumers to gain expiry information about their food, as currently the only indication is a printed date,” she said.
“From the start, I knew that the solution must appeal to sighted people also, because the sad reality is that new solutions only get implemented by companies if the benefits are useful to the majority.
“This is why I worked to create a cheap solution that could be applied to existing food packages and also provides information that even sighted people haven’t had access to before: information about the actual condition of food.”
Pakstaite was recently announced as the British winner of the James Dyson Award for product design, winning £2 000 in prize money. She will now be entered into Dyson’s international contest. The label’s design went through more than 20 versions before it was submitted to the Dyson judges.
Last year a report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers blamed use-by dates for the waste of edible food.
It found up to half the food we buy in supermarkets goes in the bin despite much of it being perfectly edible.
The report said: “There is confusion over labelling and sell-by dates, with many people opting to throw away perfectly good food.” - Daily Mail