The Philips Electronics company is looking to patent a portable food analyzer that will allow users to find out the chemical make-up of food and beverages if they ever find themselves in a questionable eating environment. Philips made a request for the patent to the International Bureau a few months into 2007. The Philips food analyzer uses an optical analysis system to perform a quantitative chemical analysis of booth food and beverage items. In other words, it basically sends a beam of light to the sample and takes a quick photo, or optical signal. The beam of light illuminates the wavelengths emanating from the food sample and the device analyzes it to determine its contents.

This is not the first time we have heard of this kind of food analyzer. In, fact they have been available for years to larger food companies. The problem is, the high-quality optical equipment required is too expensive for the average consumer and only large companies have been able to afford to carry out these kinds of tests regularly. Philips says, however, they have developed a food analyzer that uses “lab on a chip” technology, in which all the optical requirements are shrunk to fit on a single chip, making the device much cheaper than any we have seen thus far.

In the near future, portable food analyzers may be something the average person keeps with him when eating out or ordering in to find out exactly what he’s eating. It could also be used to analyze the alcohol content in a beverage to determine if it should be consumed or not.

Check out the full patent request here.