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Scientists have reported a new invention that aims to determine the freshness of food before the first bite is taken. The color-coded smart tags will hopefully save consumers of unnecessary danger and disgust. 

The smart-tags can be placed on the outside of any food container that will measure the life cycle at first. 

According to researchers the smart tags will cut down on trash preventing people from guessing if the food is safe to consume.

The working is as simple as it could be. After placing the tiny, gel-like tag on a perishable food container, it will change its color from red to green over time, indicating the danger levels. Food is freshest when the gel is red. It should be thrown away if it's indicating green. 

"The color change is caused by tiny silver and gold nanorods reacting with each other over time. Metallic silver is slowly deposited on the gold nanorod, changing the apparent color of the material. They don't actually respond to what's going on in the food - it's an estimate based on common expiration dates," explained geek.com.

According to the researchers, apart from food items, the invention can be used even for prescription drugs. 

Whats more interesting is they're very cheap to produce, costing less than a penny for each tag. 

"A real advantage is that even when manufacturers, grocery-store owners and consumers do not know if the food has been unduly exposed to higher temperatures, which could cause unexpected spoilage, the tag still gives a reliable indication of the quality of the product," explained Chao Zhang, lead researcher of the study, according to Bustle.