- General Electric is working on making a consumer calorie counting device
- The prototype, developed in Niskayuna, New York, uses microwaves, which travel through food to measure the fat and water content of a meal
- It uses a unique equation to calculate the number of calories in dinner
- The device is planned to fit neatly over a plate of food in the future
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You may think that microwaves are only used to cook speedy readymeals or defrost food at the last minute.
But one U.S. company has developed a version of the device that enables it to calculate the number of calories in a meal.
A prototype device by General Electric Global Research uses microwaves, which travel through food, to measure the fat and water content of dinner and consequently, its calorific content.
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A prototype device by General Electric uses microwaves, which travel through food, to measure the fat and water content of dinner and consequently, it’s calorific content. A conceptual image of the as yet unnamed gadget is pictured
With obesity rates rising, there is huge demand for kitchen gadgets that make counting calories easier.
And while cutting-edge kitchen scales go some way to helping, U.S. firm General Electric believes there is an easier way.
Its unnamed calorie counter, developed in a laboratory in Niskayuna, New York,
can accurately
reveal the calorific content of a plate of food at the push of a button –
without ingredients or components of a meal having to be analysed
separately.
The device emits microwaves and detects specific signatures of the food, based upon how the waves travel though it when they encounter fat and water molecules. A concept is pictured
The device emits microwaves and detects specific signatures of the food, based upon how the waves travel though it when they encounter fat and water molecules.
It does not emit enough waves to cook the food, however.
‘You can do this because water and fat interact with microwaves very differently,’ Matt Webster, the device’s creator, told Digital Trends.
The prototype can estimate the calories in a meal using a unique equation that the team has developed over three years.
‘The equation takes the fat, water content numbers and assumes values for the rest,’ he said.
Mr Webster explained that the machine doesn’t need to know the combination of proteins, carbohydrates and sugars as the equation takes care of it, although did not reveal how.
The machine is currently a prototype and looks like a piece of lab equipment.
Having tested it between 40 and 50 times, the scientists said that it is consistently within five to 10 per cent of the calories count, as determined by chemists using traditional methods.
The team hopes to transform the prototype into a dome-shaped consumer device, that will fit neatly over a plate of food.
There is currently no indication of when it might be available or how much it will cost.
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Chuck32504,
Pensacola,
2 hours ago
If you are that bad of shape that you need a special device to count the calories in your sandwich ( ham n cheese ) than maybe you shouldnt eat that said sandwich!!
Quinsman,
London, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
Good grief, when did food become so difficult? Here’s a tip, if you are fat and getting fatter then you are probably consuming too much. If you are pale and skeletal, then you probably need to eat a little more.
The thinker,
Gotham, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
Nutritional value after micro blasting? That’s easy……. 30%.
Josey_Wales_expat,
South Central NJ, United States,
5 hours ago
Whilst you should worry about calories, you dont want to consume too many, sugar is the real enemy. Its hidden in so many foods!
ideal world,
Nuneaton, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
Fantastic idea !
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