When looking in the fridge recently, your correspondent noticed a package of minced meat sitting at the back of one of the shelves, totally forgotten. A check of the best-before date revealed it had expired two days earlier. Like so many consumers, your correspondent felt an internal struggle emerging: risk food poisoning or discard a potentially safe product? One possible solution for this conundrum could be ‘intelligent packaging’.
Intelligent packaging monitors the condition of the food or the environment surrounding the packaged food. Standard packaging plays one or more of four roles: protection, communication, convenience and containment. Protection can be regarded as the most important function, as it can influence whether the food ends up as waste. Intelligent packaging can fulfill the four main functions and can also provide information about the condition and freshness of the food.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, electronic labels and QR codes or barcodes are one form of intelligent packaging, mainly used for storing product information, ensuring its authenticity and easily transferring it in the supply chain. They can also expand the information on the packaging by directing consumers or logistics staff to online information in combination with smartphone applications. For example, some apps allow customers to be reminded of nearly expired best-before dates or can even forecast the remaining shelf life based on the actual storage conditions. The customer only needs to scan the provided label on the packaging into the app and input the temperature of the fridge, and their smartphone will calculate a more exact expiration date and remind them before it is due. All these benefits can fight food waste.
