A sensor for fresh food and less waste

The reports from Food Bank Australia reveal that, in 2024 alone, 3.4 million households ran out of food. At the same time, food wastage in the country is approximately 7.6 million tonnes per year. Unfortunately,70% of this wasted food is actually edible. One of the main reasons is food packets past their expiry date, especially meat packets, are tossed even when they are perfectly safe. This food wastage also leads to emission of 17.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Currently researchers are focusing on finding a reliable alternative to expiry dates. As a part of my PhD project, I am trying to fabricate a sensor to track meat spoilage. When meat begins to spoil, some gases like ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, are released due to microbial reactions. A sensor attached to the meat packet detects these gases and changes colour, indicating that it is unsafe to eat.

澳大利亚食品银行（Food Bank Australia）发布的报告显示，仅2024年一年，该国就有340万户家庭出现食物耗尽的情况。与此同时，澳大利亚每年的食物浪费总量约达760万吨。令人惋惜的是，其中70%的浪费食物实际上仍可安全食用。究其主要成因之一，便是诸多食品包装（尤其是肉类包装）在超出保质期（expiry date）后，即便品质完全安全可靠，仍被直接丢弃。此类食物浪费每年还会导致1760万吨二氧化碳排放。当前，研究人员正着力探寻替代保质期标注的可靠解决方案。作为本人博士研究项目的组成部分，我正尝试研发一款可追踪肉类变质（meat spoilage）的传感器。当肉类开始变质时，微生物反应会释放出氨气、硫化氢等气体。附着于肉类包装上的传感器可检测到此类气体并发生颜色变化，以此提示该肉类已不可食用。