Creating a machine that can detect harmful substances in food for home use

  • Thread starter Thread starter Docscientist
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Food Home Machine
Click For Summary
The discussion centers on the need for a home device capable of detecting harmful substances in food, particularly in developing countries where regulatory agencies often fail to ensure food safety. Participants express concerns about the complexity of food chemistry, noting that harmful substances can be unevenly distributed within food items, complicating detection efforts. There is skepticism about the feasibility of creating such a device, as it would require precise identification of various toxins and their safe levels. Suggestions include focusing on improving food production and distribution regulations rather than solely relying on consumer testing. Overall, the conversation highlights the challenges and potential benefits of developing a reliable food safety detection machine for home use.
Docscientist
Messages
101
Reaction score
11
Hello brothers and sisters of different countries,

We all know our foods are not without chemicals and other substances that are harmful for our health.We know the major cause is because most of the people in various countries do not have access to knowing what a food item contains and how harmful it is for their health.In many developing countries,the agencies which are responsible for checking the harmful contents in the food do not work properly and favour the capitalists.

The result is the developing countries with the highest population become victims of unknown diseases.
Mahatma Gandhi,in his book,tells that the best diet to avoid any disease is fruit and nut.But the problem is even the fruits contain chemicals that are sprayed on it for early ripening and other pesticides for killing pests.
What if there is a machine in every home that can detect the harmful substance present in it and inform the consumer about the risks of the substance and how to get rid of it ?

The problem is I don't have any idea how to do this or where to start this.I think millions of lives will be saved if someone volunteers to tell me about the possible ways to create that machine.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Engineering news on Phys.org
What you ask for is brutally difficult.
Substances that are harmful may accumulate selectively in specific parts of a food, for instance the seeds of a pear, so testing the surface will give a misleading impression of safety. Worse, we do not have sensors that can be used repeatedly or that can monitor a variety of potential toxins.
It is probably more practical to monitor/ regulate the production and distribution of toxic materials, even though that will always fall short of the end user testing that we all would really prefer.
 
For each and every foodstuff and toxin there will be an optimum identification process and detector.
You need to know exactly what to look for before you start looking.
 
Baluncore said:
For each and every foodstuff and toxin there will be an optimum identification process and detector.
You need to know exactly what to look for before you start looking.
Look for all kinds of toxins.I just want to create a device in such a way that it can detect almost all the toxins present in the food,inform people about how harmful it is for their health and suggest ways to control the effects of toxins present in the food.
Any idea about How I should go about creating this ?
 
Docscientist said:
Look for all kinds of toxins.
That is impossible.
For example, how would you know if a change in spectral transmission through a food was due to a toxin or some safe natural change?

Everything exists in everything else to some extent. When does the level of something become dangerous. How close should you look at the complexity of food. Is all cyanide toxic? What level of naturally occurring cyanide is safe in apricots?
 
This could be what you are looking for, check out their demo video
 
What mathematics software should engineering students use? Is it correct that much of the engineering industry relies on MATLAB, making it the tool many graduates will encounter in professional settings? How does SageMath compare? It is a free package that supports both numerical and symbolic computation and can be installed on various platforms. Could it become more widely used because it is freely available? I am an academic who has taught engineering mathematics, and taught the...