Application of biosensors in smart packaging

Abstract

Smart packaging is an exponentially growing field in the food industry, encompassing various fields of technology to aid in controlling the environment and detecting changes in the headspace, and tracing product history. Due to the frequent incidents of foodborne illnesses around the world, the major issues presently facing the industry involve ensuring the quality and the safety of its food products. Smart packaging, with built-in sensors and indicators, has been touted as a convenient technology to monitor freshness. In this review, we focus on current applications of sensors and/or indicators that can detect the freshness of meat products in smart packaging, since the mechanisms of spoilage are fundamentally similar in all types of meats. The prerequisites and principles of different types of currently available indicators/sensors for smart packaging are addressed, and an approach to improve the current technology is discussed.