Researchers have developed a new packaging featuring an electronic sensor circuit, which can determine if the food is safe to eat. This technology can be used as an alternative to ‘best before dates’, which is often a cautious estimate.
Consumers and businesses in developed countries throw away several tons of food, primarily because the 'best before' date on the packaging has passed. Much of this wastage results from the difficulty in estimating how long food will stay usable.
To lower the risk of selling spoiled food to consumers, producers show a relatively short shelf life on their packaging.
Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology, Universitá di Catania, CEA-Liten and STMicroelectronics have developed a plastic analog-digital converter that can be used by food producers in their packaging.
The circuit can monitor the acidity level of the food. The sensor circuit could be read with a scanner or with the mobile phone to show the freshness of the steak, or whether the frozen food was defrosted.
Study researcher Eugenio Cantatore said that while determining the food safety is possible with silicon ICs, the ICs are too expensive and are not feasible for use in food products.
"We're now developing electronic devices that are made from plastic rather than silicon. The advantage is you can easily include these plastic sensors in plastic packaging," Cantatore added.
The researchers noted that the plastic semiconductor can be printed on all kinds of flexible surfaces, which makes it cheaper to use. In addition, it makes sensor circuits costing less than one eurocent achievable.
The researchers have developed two different plastic ADCs (analog-to-digital converters). Each converts analog signals, such as the output value measured by a sensor, into digital form.
According to researchers, it will still take at least five years before we can expect to see the new devices on supermarket shelves.
