Best known for laptops and PC gear, Asus’ latest creation takes the company in a completely different direction. The PureGo PD100 is a kitchen accessory that dives into a sink full of water and produce to intelligently determine when pesticides have been adequately cleaned off and fruits and veggies, making them safe to eat.
For obvious reasons, the past few years have seen a stronger push for better hygiene, including proper handwashing techniques with soap and hot water. But hands and fingers aren’t the only way for unwanted things to enter your body and make you sick. Fresh fruits and veggies are often covered in invisible bacteria and pesticides even if they’re given a quick was after harvest. Unless produce comes in a bag that clearly indicates it’s been thoroughly washed, it’s a good idea to give it a bath before eating it. (And even then, another washing isn’t going to hurt.)
That’s where the Asus PureGo PD100 enters the picture. Instead of spraying down fruits and veggies and guesstimating when they’ve been adequately cleaned, the PureGo PD100 dives right into the sink with them to generate some usable data about when produce is safe to consume.
Using the PureGo PD100 seems fairly straightforward. You first clean off any visible dirt from fruits and veggies using running water, before allowing them to soak for 2-3 minutes in a container of water. You then drop the PD100 in the water too; floats on the surface with a spiral filter on the underside that remains submerged. The filter keeps larger particles out but allows dirty water to pass through where “dynamic algorithms and innovative optical-detection technology” recognise pesticides and pollutants in the water. You repeat this clean, soak, and rinse process until an LED indicator on the top of the PD100 turns green, indicating the water quality is at pollutant-free levels.
When not in use, the PureGo PD100 sits in a wireless charging cradle on a kitchen counter, and for those obsessed with data tracking, it can also connect to an accompanying smartphone app over Bluetooth where it keeps tabs on the length of recent washes and can even “share your washing history log via social media” so your friends and family all experience serious produce washing FOMO.
Pricing is set at $US200 ($281), but the fine print at the bottom of the PD100 product page on Asus’ website indicates the sensor can only “detect around 70% pesticide used in US in 2020,” which seems like a fairly sizeable blind spot. Maybe a better solution is to save yourself $US199 ($280) and just buy a cheap $US1 ($1) kitchen timer and make sure to thoroughly wash all your produce for at least 10 minutes before using it.