Innovation

All around there are many scandals involving food mislabeling, food poisoning, bad food being sent to customers and other related problems. Some people don’t see these problems as important, however many people have allergies and may suffer very bad health problems if they eat certain foods. Many food recalls are done every day and this leads to a huge food waste.

SwissDeCode is a DNA tester, same as the ones done in laboratories which take around seven days to get results, are very complicated and need a lot of instruments. This one, however, fits in a portable box where the test takes 30 minutes to be ready and it is simpler to use. It looks like a pregnancy test for food DNA.

Inspiration

Some people have food restrictions and cannot eat certain types of food and it was by observing this that the DNA Foil idea was developed.

The product was initially thought to be used for customers who can’t eat certain types of food. Because of their allergies, a DNA test would be done before eating. However, people would not go to a restaurant and wait 30 minutes before eating their food, so, the idea to sell the DNA Foil to food companies directly made more sense.

Overall impact

DNA Foil impacts the whole food industry helping companies to discover if the food they will sell will have any defects or is infected before the food has left the company, and therefore helps companies avoid recalls and scandals.

It also impacts the consumers who will consume the food. Fewer people will get food poisoning and go to hospitals. In terms of the environment, if companies use this test, less food will be wasted as the test also can be used in the field where the crops are grown, and bad food won’t be sent to people. As a result, less bad food will be thrown away.

Business benefit

The companies which use the DNA Foil now are able to make fast yes or no decisions before releasing the food and avoid scandals regarding the food. The DNA Foil can be used for specific foods and also is designed for baby food, so mothers and baby food companies can be sure that the food is safe for use.

Social and environmental benefit

The DNA Foil product tackles SDG 3 (Good Health and Well Being) as it prevents companies that are preparing any contaminated food from selling bad food; SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) as it can be used in water as well and SDG 12 (Responsible consumption and Production) as there will be less waste.

Interview

Brijdeep Sahi, CEO Co-founder