TO-GENKYO has designed an innovative hourglass shaped label for packaged meat which uses a special ink that changes color as ammonia is released inside the package. As the meat ages, it releases increasing amounts of the substance, obscuring the barcode at the bottom. Customers can quickly see if the meat is going bad – and when the barcode becomes completely covered, it can’t be scanned.
[via Pink Tentacle]
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This is from Japan?
September 18th, 2009 at 12:31 am
What a great idea. Thanks for the heads up. I can’t wait until these are available in the US!
Keep up the good work, I am really enjoying the blog.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
They will never be available in the U.S. Are you kidding…???!!!
September 21st, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Brilliant work – another amazing bit of Japanese innovation …
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:14 am
This is a great idea, but it depends on the metrics used to turn the label black. For example – I assume these images of the labels were photoshopped onto the pictures of the meat? Because the one package with the black label indicating it is bad has meat that is just as red as the others. People could be throwing out perfectly good meat. Slight color changes in the meat is perfectly normal. http://idek.net/VtY
September 22nd, 2009 at 1:32 pm