Package Integrity & Quality Sensor

Packaging using modified atmospheres or vacuum is commonly used to preserve food quality and appearance. Quality control monitoring at the point of packaging using destructive package gas sampling is critical to ensure product quality, however, does not ensure that package integrity is maintained through handling, shipping and placement. A low-cost means to non-invasively monitor the gas content of a package throughout its product-cycle could be used ensure product quality and protect against tampering. This proposal describes development of an optical instrument and novel packaging films which measure oxygen as a means to determine package integrity. A novel package sensing film provides a low-cost solution that is readily implemented to trays, pouches, and bottle cap liners with no modifications to the production line required yet imperceptible to the end-user. A handheld instrument capable of reading the sensor film in a variety of package configurations over a wide range of oxygen levels under field conditions will be developed from current bench models. This Phase I study will investigate the requirements for an instrument and sensor film that meet both manufacturer and consumer preferences. Successful development of this technology will find applications in food and pharmaceuticals packaging.