Drink spiking occurs when someone adds a substance to another person’s drink without their knowledge. But what if something as ordinary as a drinking straw could help detect some of those substances?
That is the idea behind Check-it, a project created by five SME and Entrepreneurship students at UCLL in Belgium, featuring a testing area designed to alert users to the possible presence of substances such as GHB and ketamine in a drink.
The concept is designed to be simple and discreet. The straw’s reactive testing area is placed in the drink for a few seconds and changes color if certain substances may be present, providing a warning before the person continues drinking.
Check-it was developed by Rania Jarnija, Casper Robijns, Arno Desmet, Tara Francois and Gwendoline Bonami. The project emerged as part of their studies, which required them to develop a business initiative. The team chose to focus on an issue related to safety at parties and during nights out.
The innovation does not lie in developing the chemical detection system from scratch. Instead, the team uses existing reactive test strips and integrates them into compostable straws, with the aim of turning the technology into a practical, portable and easy-to-use tool.
Check-it demonstrates that innovation does not always mean inventing something entirely new. Sometimes, it can also mean taking an existing technology, applying it in a different context and transforming an everyday object into a potential tool for personal safety.
Source: UCLL