Is this the future of dieting? The gadget that can tell you how many calories are in your dinner just by scanning it



Tellspec contains a spectrometer to analyse the chemical compounds in food

The keyring-sized device can also list allergens, chemicals, nutrients and ingredients in food - as well as the calories

Its Canadian creators hope to raise funds via crowdsourcing site Indiegogo for the £180 gadget, which can even scan food through plastic

For anyone watching their weight, it could be a perfect gadget - a keyring sized sensor that can tell you exactly how many calories are in your food simply by scanning it.

The small handheld gadget, which works with a mobile phone app, contains a spectrometer to analyse the chemical compounds in food.

From this, its Canadian inventors claim it can ‘tell you the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in your food’.

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For anyone watching their weight, Tellspec be a perfect gadget - a keyring-sized sensor that can tell you exactly how many calories are in your food simply by scanning it

The creators hope to raise funds via crowdsourcing site Indiegogo for the £180 gadget, which can even scan food through plastic, so savvy shoppers can roam the supermarket checking their food before they buy it.

It works by scanning the food and uploading the data to special web server.

There’s an algorithm that creates a report, which is sent to a mobile phone app revealing the food’s contents.



The small handheld gadget, which works with a mobile phone app, contains a spectrometer to analyse the chemical compounds in food. From this, its Canadian inventors claim Tellspec can tell you the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in your food

HOW IT WORKS

The small scanner contains a spectrometer. Light is made up of particles called photons. When you beam the low-powered laser in the TellSpec scanner at the food, some of the photons are absorbed, raising the energy states of the molecules in the food. Lower energy photons are then reflected back.

The spectrometer inside the TellSpec scanner sorts these photons by wavelength and counts them. The resulting numbers, called a spectrum, describe the chemical compounds in the food. This spectrum is uploaded to a web server where it is analysed. Information about the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in the food is then downloaded to you and displayed on your mobile phone.

‘TellSpec analyses the findings using the algorithm and sends a report to your phone telling you the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in the food,’ the firm says.

‘It is a fast, simple, and easy-to-use way to learn what's in your food.



‘TellSpec will identify allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in foods or beverages.’

Its makers hope it will help those with allergies, as well as those on a diet.



The inventors, Stephen Watson and Isabel Hoffmann hope to begin selling the gadget next year, and say it will be small enough to use as a keyring.



‘We are pioneers in this new and exciting technology,’ they said.



‘Our team has successfully tested prototypes of the TellSpec system and we are moving toward production.’

The gadget works by scanning the food and uploading the data to special web server. There's an algorithm that creates a report which is sent to a mobile phone app revealing the food's contents and the app can also keep a diary of what a user has eaten that day