The edible smartphone barcodes are now spreading awareness about sustainable fish in California.
Though not the first time that a sushi restaurant has used edible QR codes to draw attention to its sustainable fish ingredients, a restaurant in California is adding itself to the list of firsts for this trend.
The barcodes were used to provide diners with more information about the fish in an interesting way.
The restaurant is called Harney Sushi, and it has made edible QR codes using water based ink printed on wafers of rice paper. These were displayed as a part of the sushi that was served to the customers.
When scanned, the QR codes would bring the diners to the official FishWatch website.
Scanning the QR codes using a smartphone or tablet would direct a user to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website for FishWatch. That site offers the diners with a wealth of information about the fish that they are consuming at the restaurant, each of which are sustainable species.
The site also provided the restaurant patrons with the latest news about the world of sustainable seafood. This represents only the first launch of the QR codes at the restaurant, which will feature the homepage for FishWatch. However, the restaurant has stated that it intends to broaden the program so that it will soon include barcodes that are specific to the fish on which they are displayed.
The owners of Harney Sushi, Kirk Harrison and Dustin Summerville, as well as Robert Ruiz, their executive chef, have been working in close contact with the NOAA over the last few months at the La Jolla, California based Southwest Fisheries Science Center. This work has allowed improved sustainability standards to be promoted.
According to the restaurant owners, Harney Sushi is among the first American restaurants to provide their diners with this type of edible technology, with QR codes that can be both scanned and consumed. That said, the trend is starting to be formed in locations around the world, particularly in the sustainable food environment. That said, different restaurants have come up with their own ways to present the barcodes on their food.
