Mad cow and all sorts of food-related diseases have been in the news lately, and it’s okay to be cautious, but some people can be a bit paranoid.

The SensorfreshQ capitalizes on those people who feel like they’re, without a doubt, going to be the next ones who are infected. Anybody else will simply find this gadget amusing.

Basically, the SensorfreshQ is an electronic “nose” that uses the latest and greatest food-safety technology to determine the bacteria level in uncooked meat/poultry.

The sensor takes over 2,000 readings a minute, and uses an algorithm to determine the safety of the meat. It might just be me, but I get impatient; there’s no way I want to wait a minute just to see if my food is safe to cook or not.

Once the safety level has been determined, one of three LEDs will light up. The green one tells you that you’re good to go; the yellow tells you that you’re okay, but it needs to be eaten within 24 hours; the red means ditch it, unless of course it’s steak, then you can risk it.

Unfortunately, the actual part that does the work in the SensorfreshQ needs to be replaced regularly. What is known as the QCard will need be to switched out every 200 readings, the device will shut down when a new QCard is needed in order to alert you. A pack of two QCards run for a reasonable $10.

Anybody who’s satisfied with the consume-by or sell-by dates on most meat packages won’t bother buying this. Still, there’s some that will, and those people will expect to pay $90. Available at Shaper Image.