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
So sorry to hear that Prop 37 didn’t pass. That totally sucks and just reminds me how clueless people are about their health. Allowing large corporations control what they put in their bodies. Sad day in America.
Exactly Christine. Sigh.
And here CA residents were afraid of the price of their food going up! This device is going to be expensive! And yes, I can’t believe it didn’t pass. It just shows that many people are ignorant about their health and how to fix it. Really sad! Frustrating for the rest of us because we pay for their health issues plus our own. 🙁
SO sad!
I can NOT believe that it didn’t pass. I don’t understand.
This device is real and it’s effective. My cousin works for a company who makes and markets a similar, more sensitive device to the military that can measure all elements and chemicals that an object is composed of. It does so through light technology – there is no probe that needs to be inserted. It’s amazing what the potential capabilities are of this technology.
Cool concept. Maybe one day it’ll just be part of a stock iphone.
Ridiculous. Uses a steel probe to measure nitrate levels? I can really see farmers and retailers allowing everyone to stick steel probes in their produce! Grow your own, or source locally from known suppliers.