Agriculture
Smart sensor can tell whether meat has gone bad─── 16:48 Tue, 05 May 2015
Massachusetts - Researchers are working on a packaging sensor that is hoped to improve food safety, as well as cut down on food waste.
According to the MIT News Office, chemists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have devised an inexpensive, portable sensor that can detect gases emitted by rotting meat.
MIT’s Timothy Swager says the idea is to incorporate the sensor, which consists of chemically modified carbon nanotubes, in “smart packaging” that would offer much more accurate safety information than the expiration date on the package.
The report states that researchers at Swager’s lab have developed similar sensors in the last few years, including one that detects the ripeness of fruit. Other meat sensors have also been developed, but this latest model is smaller and cheaper and the idea is that it will also be able to communicate with a regular smartphone.
In addition to the safety benefits, researchers also hope to cut down on food waste by preventing people from throwing out food that hasn’t actually gone bad.
Source: http://newsoffice.mit.edu/
