Interview w/ Isabel Hoffmann: Her TellSpec device can tell us what allergens & pesticides are in our food.

ARTICLE UPDATE: I regret to report that I have decided to temporarily suspend access to this article. A few credible doubts about the technology have come to The Tender Foodie’s attention, and an interesting discussion has developed in James Randi Educational Foundation Forum, where Dr. Stephen Watson, TellSpec's CTO ("drswatson") is responding with the participants. You can follow that discussion here.

I'm suspending access to the article, not because of the technical doubts/questions, this is a natural discussion and I"m excited to hear how things progress, but because in my excitement about this potentially ground-breaking product, we missed an important detail that came to light in the forum - that the device might not be ready to properly detect allergens at the time of its release, and during its initial testing in the public arena. I feel that there is a misunderstanding here that needs to be completely clarified before we re-post the article.  I've begun corresponding with TellSpec to clarify this, and suspect that this will take some time, but my plan is to re-post the article with the proper clarifications that mitigate the risk of further misunderstanding. I certainly enjoyed speaking to Isabel Hoffmann, TellSpec's CEO during the interview, and should it prove appropriate, look forward to re-posting that interview at the proper time.

The Tender Foodie certainly hopes that this device could be created with great success for the food allergic community, and looks forward to any technical developments and information/proof regarding those developments.  Thank you for your patience.

 Visit the TellSpec Website here.

Other articles about this device:

Fast Company:http://www.fastcoexist.com/3020813/fund-this/point-this-magical-scanner-at-your-food-and-it-will-count-the-calories

Financial Post:http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/21/how-one-entrepreneur-is-revolutionizing-the-food-industry/

Engadget: TellSpec identifies food ingredients and calories using science

Betakit: http://www.betakit.com/is-tellspec-the-star-trek-tricorder-we-have-been-waiting-for/

CanadianBusiness: Coming soon to your phone: handheld food safety 

Metro News:http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/830736/scanner-analyzes-chemical-makeup-of-your-food/

Health habits:TellSpec answers the question…what is in that food?

Daily News (UK): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2452714/Tellspec-Future-dieting-Gadget-tells-calories-dinner-scanning.html

Silicon Angel:http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/10/17/crowdfund-these-smart-gadgets-earring-bluetooth-audio-wrist-allergen-detectors/

Comments

[vicky]

I really hope your device will be able to show GMO ' s in food when it comes out in Aug. This is even more imp than any additive as Genetically Modified materials cause a huge amt of diseases as well as destroying a persons ability to break down the vitamins and minerals in foods. It also ruins a persons DNA and genetic damage will be passed on to future generations. This sounds like a wonderful and amazing device! I am so excited! I cant wait for it to be available to the public!

[Elisabeth Veltman, The Tender Foodie]

Thanks for your comment, Connie! We'll keep in touch with Isabel and keep people posted when the device is ready for GMOs.