Smartphone Integrated Multispectral Image Sensor for Packaged Meat Safety

Food safety technology has a significant impact on our society. It helps reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses and improve the quality of food products. It can also be used to combat food insecurity by extending the shelf life of fresh food reducing spoilage and minimizing food waste. Meat is a highly perishable food and requires proper storage processing and packaging. Meat products decompose naturally because of high fat and water contents that render them susceptible to spoilage by both lipid oxidation and microbial contamination. The spoiled meat is hazardous due to microbial growth and the subsequent transmission of food borne illnesses. As a pivotal source of protein and nourishment and playing a large role in ecological and economic systems meat production distribution and consumption must continuously evolve with the best technologies available to maximize its benefits and minimize undesirable impacts. Primelabs in collaboration with the University of Dayton and other partners has been working to develop and commercialize a low-cost add-on system that utilizes a smartphone (Apple iOS or Google Android devices) operating an artificial intelligence (AI) software application and a high- performance multispectral imaging (MSI) camera. Our smartphone-MSI system is designed to be used either with modified atmosphere packaging or aerobically packaged meat to provide information about the quality and safety of meat products. In future we plan to expand the use of our system to a variety of other foods including packaged fruits and vegetables and pre-prepared meals.