Drink spiking occurs when someone adds a substance to someone’s drink without their knowledge. What if something as ordinary as a straw could help detect these substances?
This is the idea behind Check-it, a project created by five students of the entrepreneurship program at the UCLL University of Applied Sciences in Belgium. Check-it is capable of alerting people about the possible presence of substances such as GHB and ketamine in drinks.
The technology is simple and discreet. The reactive zone of the straw is simply introduced to the drink for a few seconds and will change color in the presence of certain substances, offering an alert before the consumer drinks it.
Bonami Rania Jarnija, Casper Robijns, Arno Desmet, Tara Francois and Gwendoline are the innovators behind Check-it. The project started based on their studies, where they had to develop an entrepreneurial initiative. The team decided to select a safety issue and then come up with a solution.
Check-it’s innovation lies not in the chemical detection materials (the team used existing testing strips), but in their application, integrating these materials into compostable straws that are practical, portable and easy-to-use.
Check-it proves that innovating does not always mean inventing something completely new. Sometimes, it involves taking an existing technology, applying it to a different context. In this case, an everday item could be converted into a safety tool.
Source: UCLL