A team of Chinese researchers from China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation have come up with a handheld gadget called a 'freshness sniffer' which can determine the freshness of meat you are about to buy or cook.
It's based on sensor and measurement technologies long employed in missiles and space equipment, revealed a Chinese newspaper.
"It can tell you whether the meat is fresh, or not so fresh and needs to be cooked well, or if it has already become spoiled," Niu Ye, an engineer at the institute who is in charge of the product's development, was quoted.
"You open the device and an application on your mobile phone and then place the device very close to the meat for about 10 seconds," he added.
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The device is connected to the mobile phone via Bluetooth and detects the presence of ammonia and volatile organic compounds to determine bacteriological activity in uncooked meat.
It then analyzes the results to judge the meat's freshness and displays its verdict on the phone.
Interestingly, the new gadget can be used with almost every kind of meat -- including pork, beef, mutton, chicken and even fish.
The first version of the device is said to be 80-90 percent accurate, and further upgrades of the hardware and app will increase the accuracy.
Currently, consumers generally judge meat's freshness by its smell and appearance, he stated.
The product could be particularly useful to consumers purchasing meat from unlicensed vendors, especially in Kenya where donkey meat is in circulation.
In 2017, investigations revealed that most butchers in Kenya are adding a killer chemical to preserve meat.
The butchers are said to be using sodium metabisulphite- a white powdery chemical locally referred to as dawa ya nyama (the meat drug) - to make meat look fresh.
The chemical is usually mixed with water and once smeared on meat which has been in the butchery for weeks, it gives it a fresh red look, duping unsuspecting customers.
It is easily accessible to the business people since it's available in chemists and agrovets for Sh650 per 500-gramme container.
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