{"id":30079,"date":"2014-07-17T17:35:58","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T21:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=30079"},"modified":"2016-07-14T16:10:39","modified_gmt":"2016-07-14T20:10:39","slug":"ge-calorie-count-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/tech\/ge-calorie-count-plate\/","title":{"rendered":"New GE Device Could Measure Calories on Your Plate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Calorie
Photo: General Electric<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ever wonder exactly how many calories are contained in the food you dish onto your dinner plate? Your days of trying to eyeball portion sizes<\/a> and tediously add up calorie counts may be over within the next five years. Researchers from General Electric are hard at work developing a tool that can measure the number of calories in your meal with the mere push of a button.<\/p>\n

Senior scientist Matt Webster, who works at GE\u2019s labs in upstate New York, first came up with the idea for his universal calorie counter<\/a> in 2009, after asking his wife if she\u2019d like a fitness-tracking device for her birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe surprised me by saying she wanted something that measured the calories she ate, not burned off,\u201d Webster says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Intrigued, Webster got to work turning this idea into a reality. The first steps: finding the technology that would enable him to calculate the nutritional value of an entire meal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database<\/a>, Webster and his team were able to develop a simple equation that allowed them to estimate the total calorie count of a plate of food based on its weight, total fat content and water content.<\/p>\n

Using a technology called microwave spectrometry, which is often used for quality control purposes in food processing plants, the researchers tested their technique by measuring the fat and H20 contents in a liquid solution. After 40 to 50 tests, the researchers confirmed that their equation enabled them to measure calories counts to within five to 10 percent accuracy. And the entire procedure took just seconds.<\/p>\n