At the annual Baidu World technology conference last Wednesday, the company revealed a prototype for a pair of smart chopsticks that can detect oil that has gone bad or has been recycled and re-used.

Baidu, the Chinese equivalent to Google, has named the new device Baidu Kuaisou. The pair of smart chopsticks contains sensors that can detect contamination in cooking oil. When contamination is discovered, the results are gathered and displayed through a smartphone app.

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The idea for the device was originally prompted by an April Fool's joke regarding chopsticks that can name all the ingredients used in any kind of dish. Although the Baidu Kuaisou can only detect contaminants in oil instead of individual ingredients, the device is still certainly impressive.

"There was no serious intention of pursuing it as a product, but it generated quite a bit of buzz. We thought generally it's kind of quirky and timely considering concerns about food safety in China," a Baidu rep shared.

A video clip shows how the pair of chopsticks is used. The device is dipped in three glasses - one filled with olive oil, another with regular cooking oil and a third with "gutter oil" or oil that has been recycled and reused that masquerades as fresh oil. 

The device was seen giving positive readings to the first two glasses, but a negative reading on the glass with the gutter oil. 

Baidu CEO Robin Li shared that the device is able to detect the freshness of oil by measuring its pH level, peroxide value and temperature.

"In the future, via Baidu Kuaisou, you'll be able to know the origin of oil and water and other foods - whether they've gone bad and what sort of nutrition they contain," Li shared. 

With food scandals abounding in China, such as virus-infected strawberries and rotten meat in fast food chains, smart chopsticks could prove extremely useful.

Zhong Nanshan, a notable health expert who was the first to diagnose the SARS virus in 2003, stated that China produced around 14 million tons of gutter oil last year. 3.5 million tons of the said recycled oil made it to the kitchens and tables of Chinese homes and food establishments.

As of now, the Baidu Kuaisou is not yet available in the market. The company shared that it is still in the early stages of development.