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Packaging Sensor Predicts Shelf Life of Perishable Foods

BlakBear's paper-based electrical gas sensor measures the remaining shelf life of meats, poultry, and fish, more accurately than misleading expiration dates.

The BlakBear sensor determines the shelf life of perishable foods like packaged fresh meats by detecting and measuring the gas emitted from the products as they spoil.
The BlakBear sensor determines the shelf life of perishable foods like packaged fresh meats by detecting and measuring the gas emitted from the products as they spoil.
Photo courtesy of BlakBear.

A new smart packaging solution will soon hit the market in a bid to combat food waste. BlakBear, a London-based food supply chain company, has developed a paper-based electrical gas sensor that indicates the remaining shelf life for packaged meats, poultry, and fish in real time that the company says is more accurate than traditional expiration dates and provides accountability in the supply chain.

Chief Technology Officer Giandrin Barandun, along with CEO Max Grell and COO Michael Kasimatis, created the BlakBear smart labels when they were bioengineering students pursuing their Ph.D.s in the Guder Research Group at Imperial College London. Placed inside the packaging or embedded within a multilayered packaging material, the label measures the remaining shelf life of packaged meats, chicken, and fish by detecting gas emitted from the perishable foods as they spoil in order to accurately quantify their shelf life. 

Precise shelf life measurements

The paper-based label features two electrodes printed on it as well as an embedded RFID chip. When food spoils, microbes release ammonia gas. The paper’s cellulose fibers absorb this water-soluble gas and then dissociate it into ions. The electrodes sense and measure the ionic conductivity present in the layer of water that is already naturally present in the paper’s fibers to determine the shelf life of the product. “We correlate the voltage or the electrical signal that we measure from the dissolved gas with the actual microbe and organoleptic data,” Grell says.

“The sensor can measure ammonia gas down to 200 parts per billion, which is more than 100 times better than the best human noses,” he adds. “So it’s much more sensitive than what you could do yourself. And it responds in seconds as well.” 

Consumers can access shelf-life data in real time when they scan the RFID tags embedded in the BlakBear label with their smartphones.Consumers can access shelf-life data in real time when they scan the RFID tags embedded in the BlakBear label with their smartphones.Photo courtesy of BlakBear.

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