Unknown to most of us laymen (门外汉), there is quite a lot of interest in developing edible tags for our food. These could perform the same role as today’s food labels but would also form a tasty snack after use — which would also do away with the information contained on the label.
Now, Japanese researchers have developed an approach to produce one such kind of unobtrusive (不阻塞的), edible tag, which can be safely embedded (嵌入) inside edible products. So far, the team has been experimenting with tags that are baked into cookies. Known as “interiQR”, such tags can be read using a device without altering the food or its packaging and don’t have any impact on the taste of the product.
One enormous drawback of our labels as they are today is that, cumulatively (渐增地), they lead to mounds and mounds of extra material used for packaging—which translates to increased waste and pollution. Using a QR cookie as a tag would help cut down on packaging waste while not altering the items in any way.
The information is contained in 3D-printed “infills”, around which the cookies are baked. Such a “label” would also allow producers, retailers, or customers to read the information using a QR code reader or a backlight at any point in a product’s life.
“Our 3D printing method is a great example of the digital transformation of foods, which we hope will improve food traceability and safety,” says senior author of the study, Kosuke Sato. “This technology can also be used to provide novel food experiences through augmented (提高的) reality, which is an exciting new field in the food industry.”
The team is confident that their cookie tags could prove to be a great help in reducing packaging waste worldwide once they’re adopted on a wide scale. Needless to say, suddenly having a cookie available to munch on with every purchase is incentive (刺激) enough to adopt the use of these interiQR cookies.
【小题1】What can be inferred about the edible tag after it is read?| A．It must be removed from the snack. | B．It’ll damage the packaging of the snack. |
| C．It’ll become part of the snack. | D．It’ll update the information on the snack. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By describing the process. |
| C．By giving definitions. | D．By making a comparison. |
| A．It sets a good example of tasty food. |
| B．It is expected to be used to locate food sources. |
| C．It enables customers to read a novel while eating. |
| D．It makes information accessible to customers anytime. |
| A．Novel Food Experiences from QR Cookie |
| B．Future Food Label in a QR Cookie |
| C．3D Printing and Environment |
| D．Edible Tags Making Cookies Tastier |
