Reduce the risk of proliferation Pathogenic bacteria By monitoring the appropriate cold conditions, there is a fundamental action of preserving and, above all, maintaining food with a much longer shelf life, explained Ernesto González Fernández from the Technological Institute of Packaging, Transport and Logistics (ITENE).

According to Fernández, temperature control during the transport of perishable products is an important aspect of the logistics process. And together with the optimization of the phases of the distribution cycle, it will enable maintaining quality and reducing rejections, losses and complaints.

According to the latest available report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in 2020 global meat production was about 337 million tons, which corresponds to more than three times the amount of meat produced fifty years ago.

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The importance of follow-up

Monitoring and traceability systems of production and distribution chains of perishable food, especially meat products, integrate sets of sensors, wireless communication devices and technologies such as blockchain to ensure the transparency of information and to guarantee the safety of the various processes and conditions that the product has undergone until it reaches the end user.

For Ernesto González, it is important to conduct a study of the whole Logistics chain have a first approximation of the weakest points, as well as analyze the product that is intended to be monitored and know the variables that affect its quality. And, based on this, a search must be made for the most suitable sensors to capture these variables.

“The sensors to be used can be conventional electronic devices or printed electronic devices. Printed electronic devices make it possible to reduce the cost of monitoring these product variables and can even be applied at the product unit level. Printed electronic devices bring together two different sectors such as electronic design and the printing process,” commented González Fernández.

Advantages of technological implementation of surveillance

On the other hand, Inmaculada Lorente Gómez from ITENE commented on it Sensors can be conventional electronic devices or printed electronic devices. Printed electronic devices make it possible to reduce the cost of monitoring these product variables and can even be applied at the product unit level.

This technology consists of printing different types of inks for the development of antennas, matrices or circuits on different substrates, such as paper, textile or plastic. By direct printing on these substrates, electronically sensitive objects can be developed relatively inexpensively.

Bad electronic devices Printed products bring together two different sectors such as electronic design and the printing process. The main advantage compared to traditional electronics is that large series of flexible sensors can be obtained at a low price, with the possibility of their integration into products where it is not possible to apply traditional electronics.

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