New Caparo IPhone app helps households to reduce waste

The app "Consume Within" has already been listed as 'New and Noteworthy' in the iTunes App Store. It is an innovative and easy to use application that is the first to track the use by dates of both shop-bought and home-made items.

The Apple iPhone application has been developed at the award-winning Caparo Innovation Centre (CIC), a partnership between Caparo and the University of Wolvehampton. The app monitors food items in three different locations - fridge, freezer or cupboard - and the user can set their 'consume by' dates set individually.  Each entry can be accompanied by a photograph that makes the item easy to identify at a later date.

For all those similar looking food packages that have spent a few days in the freezer, Consume Within also provides unique stickers that people can use to help them identify foods at a later date. The app alerts users daily of the items that are about to expire within the next three days and displays them by location or as a single list.

Andrew Pollard, Industrial Professor at the CIC, said: "Reducing food waste is a major issue, it costs the average family with children 830 pounds per year and has serious environmental implications too - in the UK 8.3 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households each year.

"The App will help you save money, save the planet and keep the fridge tidy.  It is very versatile - it will allow you to monitor not only food bought in but even meals prepared at home, and can be used for adult food, baby food, and even cosmetics."

The application is available now to download from Apple iTunes. The Lite version is free and allows users to monitor up to four items at a time, while the full version can monitor an unlimited number of items. The latter is priced at 1.79 pounds, a Caparo release said today.