RFID sensors to track produce

Engineers at the Syngenta Sensors University Innovation Centre plan to integrate sensors with radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology to track the stresses suffered by perishable goods along the supply chain.

Dr Bruce Grieve, director of the Syngenta Sensors University Innovation Centre at Manchester University, told The Engineer Online that the new sensors will actually measure the state of the food in the packaging by tracking the temperature that it is exposed to over time.

'We will initially be using time tracking alone as this is the key characteristic that needs to be locally monitored within the chilled supply chain for perishables,' he said. 'However, the technology is road-mapped to then accommodate additional features, notably humidity [as that is an important means to measure fungal growth and respiration]. After that, ethylene would be the next most prominent feature to track, especially due to its ripening effect in fruit.'

Grieve added that integrating an RFID system onto the same silicon as the sensor should be straightforward, as an RFID system is a reasonably simple circuit that can be sourced through an existing mainstream supplier.