Image via Jagjit Chodha

I’m picky when it comes to fruit. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but as soon as it starts to get too ripe it’s nasty. To me, there’s little worse than grabbing what looks like a fresh, juicy piece of fruit only to find out it’s gone to mush—or worse, it’s covered in a film of mold.

Apparently I’m not the only person who hates it when fruit goes bad. According to the USDA, Americans throw away 263 pounds of food each day—27 percent of all food produced. Although student designer Jagjit Chodha’s invention won’t prevent fruit from rotting as it waits to be eaten, it can certainly warn consumers when they need to hurry up and gobble it down.

Chodha’s fruit bowl design senses ethylene, a chemical released by fruit as it spoils. Thus, when the bowl begins to sense ethylene, it alerts consumers they either need to quickly eat the fruit or be prepared to throw it in the garbage.

Now that’s what I’m talking about. Alas, the bowl isn’t in stores. Chodha designed the concept for the Made in Brunel Show at London’s Brunel University school of design and engineering. She was inspired by statistics indicating 440,000 tons of fruit is wasted each year from UK homes.

Samantha Lile

Samantha Lile is a 2002 Missouri State University graduate of journalism and mass media. She has served as a reporter and editor for various newspapers throughout her journalism career. She made the leap into writing full-time after working for a major financial institution since 2000.

Because of her banking background, Samantha is knowledgeable in finance reporting, but is also strong in commentaries, personal profiles, youth studies, horticulture, history and entertainment-related works.

Samantha lives in Ozark, Mo. with her husband of nine years, four dogs and two cats.

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