Snoot is helping to combat household food waste through a playful, analytical tool to instil confidence in judging freshness, whilst also providing knowledge on how to use/ preserve food. Built-in aroma detection identifies the volatile organic compounds that food releases as it degrades. Snoot interprets this data to suggest practical ideas, based on the food’s exact current freshness. Methods to use up food are shown through printed receipts, encouraging knowledge and excitement around food’s potential.

Household food waste inflicts an immense burden on the planet’s resources, with 4.5 billion tonnes of edible food being discarded yearly. Uncertainty in judging freshness and confusion caused by best before dates, paired with cognitive effort and time barriers, results in unnecessary food being wasted.

The design is currently a prototype. Almond told Dezeen, that she believes that if Snoot was fully developed and put into production, it could be used as a way to help consumers make informed decisions in lieu of this labelling system.