FRESH MEAT

The Good Design Awards Expo held in Tokyo feature more than 2,000 items ranging from consumer electronics, automobiles and furniture to office equipment, building designs and consumer goods like this Freshness indicator for meat pack labels. Designed by To-Genkyo, the hourglass shaped label contains special ink that changes color based on the amount of ammonia emitted by the meat (the older the meat, the more ammonia it releases). Functioning like an hourglass, the bottom half of the label “fills up” as the meat ages. Consumers can judge the product’s freshness at a glance. When the meat is no longer suitable for sale, the ink blocks the barcode at the bottom so that it cannot be scanned at the cash register. Brilliant!

Of course, here in the US, giant supermarket chains might never implement this 'for the consumer' label, because most of the labels would never scan anyway. Oh for the love of bovine.

+ To really get your message across, try the Ninja Shuriken!