TellSpec food scanner reveals what you're eating

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Eating the wrong food could damage your diet or put you in danger if you have a food allergy. So, how do you know what's really in your food? You might read labels and count calories, but do you really know what's in your food? Isabel Hoffmann is the inventor of a new "point and click" food scanner called TellSpec. She says it can tell you the exact breakdown of what you're eating.

She created TellSpec because her daughter suffered from severe food allergies. Hoffman calls it a breakthrough for people with allergies, dietary restrictions, or anyone who's watching what they eat.

She says TellSpec is ideal because it gives the user the information immediately.

The device is perfect for someone like busy Clovis mother of two, Trisha Carlineo. She's careful about what her kids eat but admits, it's challenging to catch it all.

"I would definitely be interested in that," Carlineo said. "I don't know if I would trust it completely, I would still want to do my own research as far as fats, and calories and GMO's."

When the light beam from the TellSpec scans food, the spectrometer inside the device sorts photons by wavelength and counts them. That count, called the spectrum, describes the chemical makeup of the food. The information is sent to the TellSpec server and then to an app on your smartphone. Instantly you see if there are ingredients such as gluten, egg, peanuts, or even pesticides. According to the company it's the same technology used to analyze rocks on mars.

The makers of TellSpec say the device can also reveal the true make up of food, beyond the package label. The government allows food companies to be within 20 percent of the amounts on their lables, but TellSpec says many labels are way off.

According to the company sweets can be especially mis-labeled, but says TellSpec can reveal hundreds of calories more than what the packaging says.

Fresno nutritionist Lesley Dresser says that the device can be useful.

"I think it's a neat gadget," Dresser said. "But unfortunately I think it's a distraction away from what's really important."

Instead of relying on gadgets and apps, Dresser focuses on getting back to basics with her clients, changing their diets to a plant-based, lean protein, no sugar plan for better health.

"Why do we have apps now that are trying to keep us healthy if we were just eating real food," Dresser. "If the content of our food was actually nutritious, then we wouldn't need things like this."

The makers of the TellSpec say the light that scans food is safe and is similar to any household light bulb. The technology also taps into a database to send the user more information about an ingredient or a potentially harmful chemical. They hope to have it available by Christmas of this year and expect it to cost about $450. For some calorie counters the cost is worth the convenience of a quick zap to know what's really on their plate.