'Smart chopsticks' can tell safe food from bad

From recycled cooking oil to fox meat and chemicals, a litany of food scandals have turned Chinese diners' stomachs, but a new "smart chopsticks" concept by Internet search giant Baidu could put the answer in their hands.

The device, which Baidu says can tell consumers whether the food in front of them is safe to eat, was born of an April Fool's video, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Baidu had at the time "no serious intention of actually pursuing this", the spokesman said of the stunt it released earlier this year. "But it generated a lot of excitement both internally and externally."