Food quality and safety monitoring using gas sensor array in intelligent packaging

Purpose - This paper aims to study different possibilities for implementing easy-to-use and cost-effective micro-systems to detect and trace expelled gases from rotten food. The paper covers various radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies and gas sensors as the two promoting feasibilities for the tracing of packaged food. Monitoring and maintaining quality and safety of food in transport and storage from producer to consumer are the most important concerns in food industry. Many toxin gases, even in parts per billion ranges, are produced from corrupted and rotten food and can endanger the consumers' health. To overcome the issues, intelligent traceability of food products, specifically the packaged ones, in terms of temperature, humidity, atmospheric conditions, etc., has been paid attention to by many researchers. Design/methodology/approach - Food poisoning is a serious problem that affects thousands of people every year. Poisoning food must be recognized early to prevent a serious health problem. Contaminated food is usually detectable by odor. A small gas sensors and low-cost tailored to the type of food packaging and a communication device for transmitting alarm output to the consumer are key factors in achieving intelligent packaging. Findings - Conducting polymer composite, intrinsically conducting polymer and metal oxide conductivity gas sensors, metal- oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) gas sensors offer excellent discrimination and lead the way for a new generation of "smart sensors" which will mould the future commercial markets for gas sensors. Originality/value - Small size, low power consumption, short response time, wide operating temperature, high efficiency and small area are most important features of introduced system for using in package food.</p

Ammonia gas sensor based on flexible polyaniline films for rapid detection of spoilage in protein-rich foods

This work details the fabrication and performance of a sensor for ammonia gas, based on conducting polymer. The fabrication procedure consists following steps; polyaniline synthesis via oxidative polymerization technique, then a sensitive polyaniline film was deposited on a printed circuit board and finally, polyaniline microdevice were assembled on an interdigitated electrode arrays to fabricate the sensor for amomonia gas detection. Response time of this chemiresistive devices and humidity impact were examined for NH3 sensitivity and compared with commercial gas sensors (Taguchi Model 826). Data export from sensor to the computer was carried out via data logger model ADC-24 and analyzed using SPSS software. The sensor was found to have a rapid (t = 40 s) and stable linear response to ammonia gas in the concentration range of interest (50-150 ppm) under room temperature operation condition. It was reviled also reliable results to the variation of environment humidity. Power consumption, sensitivity, dimension, flexibility and fabrication cost were used as most important parameters to compare the new polymer based device with those of other similar works and the results showed that small size, low cost, flexibility, low power consumption and high sensitivity are from the benefits of this innovative device. In real-time application conditions flexible polyaniline based gas sensor with polyimide substrate in thickness 0.25 mm exhibits relatively good performance and accurate evaluation of food spoilage.</p

IoT technologies in the food supply chain

Over the past few years, there has been growing research interest in the Internet of Things (IoT). Both academics and industrialists have developed and deployed IoT-based applications for transparency and efficiency within the food sector. Some of the IoT applications that have been successfully implemented are related to tracking, tracing and monitoring food products and other resources, which contributed to improved efficiency as well as better traceability. This chapter focuses on the utilization of IoT technologies in the food supply chain (FSC) specifically post-farm gate until food reaches the retailer’s shelves. It presents IoT applications that have been successfully developed and deployed in FSCs, the pros and cons of IoT implementation and finally, it describes future trends such as elements of Industry 4.0, blockchain, intelligent packaging, and artificial intelligence