Food packages that can detect spoilage

Pretty soon food packaging will be so ‘intelligent’ that it will be able to communicate information such as shelf life, freshness and quality.

At the recent Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) symposium, IFT16: Where Science Feeds Innovation, Claire Sand, an adjunct professor of packaging at Michigan State University and owner of Packaging Technology & Research, said, “We need consumer-friendly sensors for products that say, ‘Hey, this food is fresh and safe to eat’ or it isn’t. We’re very close to being able to do for a multitude of foods.”

Intelligent packaging is already used on some medicines and food products, but it will become more widespread in the next few years due to the interest in reducing food waste, she said.

Time-temperature indicators have been around for a while and are widely used, especially on seafood packages to ensure the products are safe, she said. They take into account time and temperature, which are tied to deterioration. For instance, fish or chicken left out on the counter will spoil faster than if it’s kept in the refrigerator or freezer, she said.

New degradation sensors work even better than time-temperature indicators because they actually measure products’ decay, Sand said. These sensors can be integrated into the packaging to detect spoilage and help reduce food waste. For instance, an entire package film may change colour when certain chemical reactions, such as food decay, occur, Sand said.

Degradation sensors or time temperature indicators may also be small tags that change colour when the product is no longer edible. In some cases, the barcodes fade so the food can’t be purchased, she said.

About 30% of food in the United States is wasted between production and consumption, Sand said. “Giving consumers clear direction on what food is still good and what food is past its shelf life will reduce food waste, which is a huge problem in the United States and other countries.”

As the price of food increases, consumers increasingly need a way to assess the quality of the food they buy, she said.