It’s been said the nose knows, and a recent study co-authored by Leslie Vosshall, an olfaction researcher at the Rockefeller University in New York, has revealed the human nose is more adept at detecting scents than previously thought. This study has debunked the myth that the human nose is only capable of smelling 10,000 scents. According to the research, that number has dramatically increased to at least one trillion different odors, and possibly even more. Now that we are aware of our ability to detect an incredible amount of scents, technology has come along by offering to do the smelling for us in the form of the PERES. The creators of the device claim it is a first-of-its-kind handheld device and mobile app which provides information about the freshness and quality of meat, poultry, and fish.
Since it is designed to smell foul odors, we are more than glad to relegate the task to the PERES, which can potentially protect us from the 76 million cases of foodborne illness in the US that result in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually.
The PERES is on Indiegogo looking for funding, and as of today it has raised $26,696 of its $50,000 goal with 45 days left.
According to the creators of the device there are more than 100 different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be detected in the presence of decomposing beef, pork, poultry and fish. Some of these scents can be used to indicate if the product is fresh or not, which is what the PERES does using four types of sensors.
To use the device all you have to do is point it to the product you want to test and click a button, and using the four sensors it will assess the temperature, humidity, ammonia and volatile organic compounds. When it is finished it transmits detailed results with recommendations regarding the safety of the product to a smartphone or tablet using Bluetooth.
"Can you be confident that you can identify food quality just by the sense of smell? Some of the poisonous compounds that are produced when meat spoils are actually odorless. Unless you are preparing meals in a sterile laboratory you really don't have the ability to know. Early food spoilage can occur just because of contact with cookware or other foods stored in the fridge," said Augustas Alesiunas, CEO of ARS Lab LTD and creator of PERES.
Even though we now know we can smell 1 trillion plus odors, as the creator of the PERES said some poisonous compounds are odorless, making this a product that can provide consumers, healthcare professionals and restaurants with a tool that can potentially save us from many trips to the john as well as the hospital.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
