Consumers to Whole Foods: Be afraid.
Be very, very afraid.
The Lapka, an intriguing new iPhone appcessory, is currently ramping up for mass production from the prototype phase and should be available for purchase this December for about 220 US$, just in time for the holidays.
Marketed as a “personal environment monitor”, this little contraption could likely prove an excellent tool at farmer’s markets or while shopping at Whole Foods (you know, “organic” food from China?) where produce is sometimes marked organic when, ahem, it is really not.
One of the four Lapka sensors is an organicity device, which provides the user with a steel probe to check the organic-ness of a particular food.
How?
By measuring the concentration of nitrates which are commonly used in non-organic fertilizers.
Brilliant!
The other 3 Lapka sensors test for humidity/temperature, radiation, and electromagnetic frequencies (EMF).
Environmental readings are presented on the screen in a manner which is easy to understand. For example, instead of presenting radiation readings as parts per million which would not make sense to most people, the reading is instead identified as acceptable or not with gradual color changes to red as the environment becomes less safe.
Environmental snapshots can then be sent to friends who don’t need to have a Lapka themselves to view the information.
After the launch of the personal environment monitor, Lapka’s team plans to potentially expand into other peripherals with medical applications for glucose screening and blood pressure monitoring. A device for vehicle diagnostics and even a fitness tracker are also possible.
This further empowerment of the consumer is sure to give food companies fits as they will have fewer ways in which to deceive people about the so called quality of their products.
Now all we need is a GMO sensor!
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
WF sells food from China. They should be afraid on that alone. lol
Eep. That’s important to know. I don’t shop there at all, but my MIL does. Do you have any articles I can forward to her?
This is so intriguing! Though I still dont quite get how it works. The actual device is boggling my mind. To you puncture the food?
I don’t trust Whole Foods at all. Whose to say that the organics isn’t mislabeled? Organic food from China .. they are still doing it and GMO foods everywhere.
most of whole foods produce is conventional in my area… they label the organics as such..
I can’t wait. 🙂
How’s that possible?
This app would be a great contribution to the market. Not only that you would know if its fake or not but you would also see if it has harmful effects on your body. For your GMO concerns, is better to have a detector or a law that prohibits it?
Neat, but I wouldn’t buy it until it has been independently tested. Or maybe figure out a way to test it on the spot perhaps? Sounds like a homemade science experiment.
Sounds interesting… though I would not rely on it completely. I, too, would love a GMO detector! How sad that it has come to this!