L2M NSERC - A novel high-sensitivity detector for smart food packaging and spoilage detection

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Majority of food commodity in the food service industry is sold in packages to ensure a longer shelf-life, prevent food tampering, and restrict perishability. However, the lack of a prevalent method to monitor food quality in packages is a significant concern, as existing methods such as expiry date labelling does not account for food spoilage due to microbial contamination. Developments in miniaturized sensor technology are providing innovative solutions for monitoring packaged food and detecting microbial contaminants for safeguarding consumer wellbeing and reducing food wastage. This developed sensor technology addresses the lack of methods for inspecting packaged food quality and overcomes barriers associated with the technology adoption in the food packaging industry by facilitating a simple and low-cost approach. Market analysis will be conducted to assess the feasibility of commercializing a novel miniaturized sensor that will allow for low-power utilization, high-sensitivity, and fast detection of microbial contaminants in the food and produce packaging and storage sector. This solution is built upon patented technologies that have been combined into a prototype sensor that is currently being tested in a controlled environmental chamber for detecting distinct chemical compounds associated with the target contaminant. Further R&D studies are being explored to improve this sensor. Scale-up production experiments are also needed to support market entry. We expect that the assessment will confirm the commercialization scope for this technology and will identify factors affecting adoption, key stakeholders and commercialization partners, and the requirement for novel methods to identify microbial contaminants for preventing wastage and enhancing people's accessibility to high quality packaged food and produce.