German researchers are developing a laser-based scanner, which can check the freshness of meat and meat products, from the slaughterhouse, to processing plants and retailers.
The Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Micro-integration is coordinating the EUR3m (US$3.87m) FreshScan project, funded by the German research ministry.
The system would involve semi-active radio frequency identification (RFID) tags with temperature sensors recording freshness as meat products move down supply chains.
An RFID reader with a laser-based optical detector would analyse and record this tag-documented data. Institute researcher Rolf Thomasius said his colleagues wanted to commercialise a prototype “shortly after the research project ends” in 2008.

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData