Tiny Sensor Can Detect Food Freshness: Prevent Harmful Consumption And Wastage Using A Smartphone?

A tiny sensor can help monitor food to check its freshness. The data can help prevent the consumption of spoiled food.

Food freshness and food wastage are two major concerns that several nations face. A team of researchers from Koç University in Turkey has developed a miniature sensor that can monitor the freshness of protein-rich foods. This tiny chip can be planted on any food container and its data can be read by a smartphone.

Food Freshness Monitoring Sensor Designed To Monitor And Prevent Spoiled Food Consumption

While several underdeveloped nations grapple with food shortages, many developing and developed countries experience food wastage. Several households buy a lot of food and inevitably some of its gets spoiled.

It has been difficult for ordinary people to detect the internal decay of any food product. However, a new sensor developed by researchers at Koç University can potentially allow anyone with a smartphone to detect food freshness.

The sensor is small and the developers are planning to make it affordable. In fact, the sensor can be attached to a food container. When the sensor detects that food is starting to spoil, it can send a notification, which can be picked up by a smartphone. This way, sellers, distributors, and consumers can always know when food is no longer safe to eat.

New Sensor Can Detect Food Spoilage Under Multiple Scenarios But Has One Limitation

The researchers tested their sensor in packaged meat products to demonstrate its real-world applications. The food samples were stored in a freezer, in a refrigerator, and at room temperature.

Over three days, the capacitance of the sensor monitoring the room-temperature samples went up. This proved the biogenic amines were being released from the meat as it was getting spoilt and becoming unsafe for consumption, explained the researchers:

“We have tested the sensor using chicken and beef samples stored under various storage conditions to demonstrate a real-life application for the sensor. The sensor presented a reliable performance, such that the spoilage of foods was predicted during three-day measurement by instantaneous sensor readings using a mobile phone.”

“On the third day, the room-temperature-stored samples showed a 700 percent change in sensor response compared with the samples stored in a freezer, which proves the sensor operation for the detection of spoilage.”

Needless to say, the senor can help reduce food waste and improve food safety worldwide. However, it is currently limited to protein-rich foods, which restricts its applicability. Nonetheless, researchers may be able to add more bio-markers in the future to monitor more types of food.