Content uploaded by Muhammad Sohail
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Muhammad Sohail on Nov 11, 2018
Content may be subject to copyright.
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=bfsn20
Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition
ISSN: 1040-8398 (Print) 1549-7852 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/bfsn20
Recent developments in intelligent packaging for
enhancing food quality and safety
Muhammad Sohail, Da-Wen Sun & Zhiwei Zhu
To cite this article: Muhammad Sohail, Da-Wen Sun & Zhiwei Zhu (2018): Recent developments
in intelligent packaging for enhancing food quality and safety, Critical Reviews in Food Science and
Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2018.1449731
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1449731
Accepted author version posted online: 07
Mar 2018.
Published online: 24 Apr 2018.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 113
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Recent developments in intelligent packaging for enhancing food quality and safety
Muhammad Sohail
a
,
b
,
c
, Da-Wen Sun
a
,
b
,
c
,
d,†
, and Zhiwei Zhu
a
,
b
,
c
a
School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China;
b
Academy of Contemporary Food Engineering,
South China University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, China;
c
Engineering and Technological Research Centre
of Guangdong Province on Intelligent Sensing and Process Control of Cold Chain Foods, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, Guangzhou, China;
d
Food Refrigeration and Computerized Food Technology, University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, Agriculture and Food Science
Centre, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
ABSTRACT
The role of packaging cannot be denied in the life cycle of any food product. Intelligent packaging is an
emerging technology in the food packaging sector. Although it still needs its full emergence in the market,
its importance has been proved for the maintenance of food quality and safety. The present review
describes several aspects of intelligent packaging. It first highlights different tools used in intelligent
packaging and elucidates the role of these packaging devices for maintaining the quality of different food
items in terms of controlling microbial growth and gas concentration, and for providing convenience and
easiness to its users in the form of time temperature indication. This review also discusses other intelligent
packaging solutions in supply chain management of food products to control theft and counterfeiting
conducts and broaden the image of the food companies in terms of branding and marketing. Overall,
intelligent packaging can ensure food quality and safety in the food industry, however there are still some
concerns over this emerging technology including high cost and legal aspects, and thus future work should
be performed to overcome these problems for further promoting its applications in the food industry.
Moreover, work should also be carried out to combine several single intelligent packaging devices into a
single one, so that most of the benefits from this emerging technology can be achieved.
KEYWORDS
Intelligent packaging;
indicators; food quality; RFID;
counterfeiting
1. Introduction
Most food products are highly perishable, therefore besides
using preservation techniques such as cooling (Wang and Sun,
2001; McDonald, Sun, and Kenny, 2001; McDonald and Sun,
2001; Hu and Sun, 2000; Sun and Eames, 1996; Desmond et al.
2000) freezing (Kiani et al. 2012; Ma et al. 2015; Xie et al. 2015;
Cheng, Sun, and Pu, 2016; Pu et al. 2015; Cheng et al. 2017; Xie
et al. 2016; Qu et al. 2017; Cheng et al. 2018) and drying (Sun
and Woods, 1994; Sun and Woods, 1993; Sun 1999; Yang, Sun,
and Cheng, 2017; Pu and Sun, 2016; Qu et al. 2017; Ma et al.
2017; Pu and Sun, 2017) to extend their storage life, packaging
also plays a critical role for the extension of product storage
life. The main purpose of packaging is to protect the food mate-
rial from the external environmental hazards (Yam, Takhistov,
and Miltz 2005). It not only maintains the quality of the food
product but also provide information about the ingredients and
aids in distribution and marketing of the product to the final
consumer. Of all these, preserving the quality of the packaged
food is the main aim of packaging as quality maintenance of
the food product is the most critical issue during the whole sup-
ply chain (Han 2014). In the last few years, new techniques
such as modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), edible coating,
antimicrobial packaging and antioxidant packaging have been
developed. These techniques play a significant role in extending
the storage life and maintaining the quality of a variety of fresh
and processed food products to meet the need of the consumers
(Mir et al. 2017).
Since the successful development and commercialization of
modified atmosphere packaging technology several decades ago
(Phillips 1996), MAP is largely used for packaging different
food products, which mainly include fruit and vegetables, mus-
cle foods, dairy foods, bakery products, ready meals and dried
foods. As a result, a number of review papers have been pub-
lished to address the preservation aspects of these food prod-
ucts. Sivertsvik, Jeksrud, and Rosnes (2002) reviewed
applications of MAP for enhancing the storage life of fish and
fishery products and McMillin (2008) discussed applications of
MAP for raw fresh meat in his review paper, while a recent
review (Oliveira et al. 2015) focused on applications of MAP
for fresh cut fruit and vegetables.
On the other hand, intelligent packaging is a new emerging
technique in the food packaging circle, protecting the food
material as well as informing the consumer about the environ-
mental condition of the packaged food. It should be noted that
the concept of intelligent packaging is closely related to that of
active packaging. Active packaging usually means that the
package has active functions beyond the inert passive
CONTACT Da-Wen Sun dawen.sun@ucd.ie School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
y
Website: www.ucd.ie/refrig;www.ucd.ie/sun.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online at www.tandfonline.com/bfsn.
© 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION
https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1449731
containment and protection of the food product, while intelli-
gent packaging emphases the ability to sense or measure an
attribute of the packaged food product, the atmosphere inside
the package, or the environment of shipping. The information
received from intelligent packaging can be communicated to
users or can trigger the functions of active packaging. There are
a number of reviews available addressing the different aspects
and concepts of intelligent packaging systems. Kerry, O’Grady,
and Hogan (2006) studied the historical background and cur-
rent uses of active and intelligent food packaging for muscle
foods such as meat, Vanderroost et al. (2014) provided an
insight into the next generation of intelligent food packaging,
Lee et al. (2015) discussed active and intelligent packaging for
various fresh foods, while Ghaani et al. (2016) presented differ-
ent features and market potentiality of various types of intelli-
gent tools such as sensors, indicators, and RFID tags and bar
codes. Most recently Fang et al. (2017) studied the application
of smart packaging technology that can be successfully applied
in the meat industry.
The objective of the current review is to stipulate knowledge
of the recent technological development in the field of intelligent
food packaging for maintaining quality and safety of different
food and food products. The principles of intelligent packaging
and the different devices used in it are also presented. This
review also covers other important aspects of intelligent packag-
ing in supply chain management of different food items. In addi-
tion some future developments are also discussed in the current
review.
2. Principles of intelligent food packaging
2.1. Intelligent packaging
In intelligent packaging, the communication functions of the
packaging materials are used to make it easy for recording the
changes in the internal and external environments and then to
inform the users about the status of the packaged food products
(Yam 2012). Therefore, intelligent packaging has the ability to
sense and note the attributes of the packaged foods or their envi-
ronments and convey messages about the deterioration or
quality of the packaged foods to their processors or users (Hut-
ton 2003).
For the food quality and safety point of view, intelligent
packaging is very useful to the industry and consumers to pro-
vide timely information regarding the status of the foods
through a change within the package system. In some intelli-
gent packaging systems, the packaging has the ability to inform
its users about the whole history of the food product such as
providing information regarding manufacturing process, expiry
date, ingredients and storage specifications (Bagchi 2012).
In some cases, intelligent packaging is so designed to inform
its users of an event that may damage the packaging material or
affect its protected life. Research has been done on developing
such labels or seals that are transparent until the package is
opened. Once the package is damaged, the label or seal will
change its colour and in some cases it will spell out “opened”or
“stop”(Vanderroost et al. 2014). These functions can be
achieved by putting sensors or instruments capable of sharing
the relevant information of the packaging system. Therefore
intelligent packaging is a great achievement for the maintenance
of food quality and safety, making the foods available for the lon-
ger duration to the consumers (Realini and Marcos 2014).
2.2. Integration of intelligent devices with conventional
food packaging
Conventional food packaging can extend the storage life of the
food product by protecting the food material, however it has no
ability to inform users about quality deterioration in terms of
temperature fluctuation, gas concentration change and microor-
ganism growth inside the package environment. Similarly fresh
fruits and vegetables respire even after harvesting. Simple pack-
aging is thus not enough for quality maintenance, there should
be an intelligent system that can constantly monitor the gas con-
centration within the package environment (Kader and Ben-
Yehoshua 2000) and provide correct information at the right
time regarding the quality characteristics of the food products.
For this purpose different intelligent components should be
integrated into different food packaging systems to make the
environment intelligent and to communicate with the consum-
ers regarding the changing condition of the package. Figure 1
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of intelligent packaging system.
2M. SOHAIL ET AL.
presents the structure of the intelligent packaging system,
including various kinds of substances and devices used in this
kind of advanced packaging system.
3. Types of intelligent tools used for food packaging
During processing, food quality can be checked regularly by
microbial and chemical analyses. However, there are some
quality attributes that need constant vigilance during the whole
supply chain. These quality parameters change regularly after
processing and can affect the quality of the product. These
changes are difficult to assess by the consumers within the
packaged food (Luning, Marcelis, and Jongen 2002). With
the help of intelligent packaging, it becomes possible to check
the quality characteristics of the food within the package. These
intelligent packaging tools or devices bring some changes in
themselves with the change in the quality parameter of the
packaged foods. They are mostly placed within the package to
monitor quality changes of the product, while some can be
placed outside to inform the users about the safety related
issues of the food products.
Generally speaking, there are three main types of tools that
are used for intelligent packaging (Kerry, O’Grady, and Hogan
2006), which include sensors, indicators, and barcodes and
radiofrequency identification (RFID) devices. Table 1 presents
different types of tools used in intelligent packaging systems.
3.1. Sensors
A sensor is an instrument that is used to detect, locate or quan-
tify a problem and then send signals to measure its physical or
chemical characteristics. A sensor has the ability to frequently
detect an event or changes in the surrounding environment
(Neethirajan, Jayas, and Sadistap 2009). Usually sensors are
made up of a receptor and transducer. The function of a recep-
tor is to convert physical or chemical information into a form
of energy, and a transducer changes the energy to an analytical
signal (Demas, DeGraff, and Coleman 1999).
For food quality and safety assurance, it may be very important
to develop intelligent food packaging systems using portable chem-
ical sensors to check different compounds and gas molecules, spe-
cially, H
2
,O
2
,NO
2
and CO
2
in modified atmosphere packaging.
Table 1. Summary of intelligent packaging system in the food sector.
Type of intelligence Objective/Purpose Food product References
Freshness indicator Determining freshness by showing
color changes due to the presence
of amines
Silver carp Zhai et al. (2017)
Freshness indicator Determining freshness of the product
by showing different colours
Chicken breast Rukchon et al. (2014)
Freshness indicator Determining biogenic amines as
quality indicators
Broiler chicken Rokka et al. (2004)
Gas Indicator Checking the growth of
microorganisms by increasing level
of carbon dioxide gas
Intermediate moisture dessert Nopwinyuwong, Trevanich, and
Suppakul (2010)
Gas Indicator Detecting carbon dioxide gas without
harming the packaging material
Kimchi (fer ted food product) Hong and Park (2000)
Gas Indicator Detecting oxygen gas and the
prevention of dyes from leaching
out
Any food packaging system Vu and Won (2013)
Gas indicator Detecting improper sealing and quality
deterioration of the package
Pizza and beef products Smiddy et al. (2002)
RFID system Determining different maturity and
quality levels
Italian cheese Papetti et al. (2012)
RFID system Monitoring the product during supply
chain
Cheese products Regattieri, Gamberi, and Manzini
(2007)
RFID tag Cfreshness indicator Monitoring the freshness of the
product
Pork Sen et al. (2013)
RFID CWSN Tracking and tracing food product
location along with temperature
and humidity data
Kimchi Alfian et al. (2017)
RFID CGPSCWSN Tracking the products during storage
and transportation
Chilled and frozen food products Zhang et al. (2009)
RFID CCO
2
and O
2
sensor Determining freshness of the product Broccoli Eom et al. (2012)
RFID system (Chipless) Sensing and identifying tagged
product during supply chain
Different food items Amin, Karmakar, and Jensen (2016)
Sensor Detecting spoilage of the tested
product
Shrimp Ma, Du, and Wang (2017)
Sensor Determining freshness of the product
at temperatures as low as 0
o
C
Cod fish/ Cod fish fillets Heising, Boekel, and Dekker (2015)
Sensor Measuring headspace CO
2
in MAP
storage
Salad leaves Borchert, Kerry, and Papkovsky (2013)
Time temperature indicator Determining microbiological quality of
unpasteurized angelica juice
Angelica juice Kim et al. (2016)
Time temperature indicator Determining quality of the stored food
items using natural ingredients, i.e.
red cabbage and chitosan
Milk Pereira, de Arruda, and Stefani (2015)
Time temperature indicator Monitoring the quality of food during
storage or distribution
Any food item Lim et al. (2014)
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION 3
These chemical sensors are best alternatives to the time-consuming
analytical instruments such as gas chromatography-mass spec-
trometer (GC-MS), which can only be applied by breaking the
food package integrity (Llobet 2013). Figure 2 indicates different
types of sensors used in intelligent packaging systems.
Baleizao et al. (2008) developed a high sensitive optical dual
sensor for the detection of oxygen using different levels of tem-
perature. Their developed sensor was composed of two light
emitting compounds, one can be used for the detection of tem-
perature while the other for the detection of oxygen. As Ruthe-
nium tris-1, 10-phenanthroline is highly luminescent
compound, it was used as the temperature-sensitive dye. The
probe used for the detection of oxygen-sensitivity was fullerene
C70 because of its strong, thermally activated and delayed fluo-
rescence at high temperatures. Their results confirmed that the
dual sensor had the capacity of detecting temperature change
ranging from 0 to 120
o
C and the minimum detection limits for
oxygen was 50 ppmv.
An optochemical CO
2
sensor was developed by Borchert,
Kerry, and Papkovsky (2013), composing of a Pt-TFPP dye and
a colorimetric pH indicator a-naphtholphthalein bounded in a
plastic shield combined with a tetraoctyl- or cetyltrimethylam-
monium hydroxide that acts as a phase transfer agent. After the
optimization of the composition and the working conditions of
the developed sensor for the measurement of CO
2
in foods
stored under modified atmosphere packaging, it was concluded
that the sensor could retain its sensitivity to CO
2
at 4C for
almost three weeks.
On the other hand, Heising, Boekel, and Dekker (2015)
developed a sensor for the checking of the freshness of pack-
aged cod fillets. The working principle of the developed sensor
is to monitor the volatile compounds released from the fish in
the storage. The sensor has the ability to monitor the freshness
of the fish at temperatures as low as 0
o
C. For temperatures
higher than 4
o
C, a conductivity meter should be combined
with the temperature sensor to successfully check the freshness
of the packaged fish. Most recently, Ma, Du, and Wang (2017)
prepared a biosensor by integrating curcumin (Cur) into a tara
gum (TG)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film. The colour response
was visible within 1–3 min in the NH
3
environment. As a
proof, shrimp was tested to evaluate its spoilage using the
developed film, and positive results were obtained, indicating
the possibility of using the film as a sensor in the food industry.
3.2. Indicators
Indicators are used to provide information regarding any
change taking place in a food product or its surrounding condi-
tion (e.g., temperature, pH, etc.) by observing visual changes
usually in colour. The speciality of indicators is that they do
not have any receptor or transducer like sensors, instead they
only provide information through direct visual changes in the
food environment (Mills 2005). Indicators applied to food
packaging are time-temperature indicators, gas indicators and
freshness indicators (Hogan and Kerry 2008).
Time-temperature indicators are used to check whether the
food product is at lower or higher than the specific tempera-
ture. It also informs the users regarding the presence of micro-
organism and the structural changes occurred in protein
during different food processing operations (Kerry, O’Grady,
and Hogan 2006). Freshness indicators tell us about the food
quality in terms of microbial growth and/or chemical changes
occurred in the food products (Siro 2012). On the other hand,
gas indicators are used in the form of labels to check the gas
concentration within the package system. Their purpose is to
monitor the leakage of any gas specially oxygen and carbon
dioxide (Lee and Ko 2014; Vu and Won 2014).
3.2.1. Time-temperature indicators
Temperature is critical in the determination of the storage
period of a specific food product. Sudden changes in the tem-
perature causes great concern over the quality of a processed
food material. Nowadays, for the purpose of the food quality,
food processors and suppliers are checking the temperature of
the food materials at every stage during the supply chain from
the harvesting to the end use (Giannakourou et al. 2005). The
Figure 2. Different types of sensors used in intelligent packaging system (Lee et al. 2015).
4M. SOHAIL ET AL.
wisely use of such tools for checking the time and temperature
history of the food products are termed as time-temperature
evaluation (Pereira, de Arruda, and Stefani 2015; Galagan, Hsu,
and Su 2010). The operational principles of the majority of
TTIs depend on chemical, enzymatic, mechanical, electrochem-
ical, or microbiological reactions, which depict the outcomes in
the form of colour changes (Brody 2001; Mehauden et al. 2008;
Vaikousi, Biliaderis, and Koutsoumanis 2008; Yan et al. 2008).
A prototype isopropyl palmitate (IPP) diffusion-based time
temperature indicator has been developed by Kim et al. (2016)
and was used for the determination of microbiological quality
of unpasteurized angelica juice. The diffusion of isopropyl pal-
mitate in the designed indicator was calculated at different tem-
perature ranges. It was proved that diffusion of IPP up to 7 mm
in the TTI could be best used as a successful level for the deter-
mination of microbial spoilage in the prepared juice sample.
However the developed time temperature indicator could only
be successfully used for the indication of microbial growth at
temperature level of 13
o
C or higher.
Pereira, de Arruda, and Stefani (2015) developed a very eco-
nomical and accurate TTI from natural ingredients to use as
intelligent packaging device. They extracted anthocyanin from
red cabbage and combined it with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and
chitosan to work as labelling film for the purpose to develop a
time temperature indicator. As anthocyanin can goes through
chemical changes due to pH variation, it can be successfully
used as natural indicator for the quality deterioration of the
food products. The developed system had the ability to detect
the quality changes by monitoring the alteration in the pH of
the packaged food such as milk during storage. As long as the
food material is stored at a different temperature, the system
had the ability to monitor the changes in temperature indirectly
with the help of pH variation of the product, which occurred
due to the unsuitable temperature for the storage.
In the last couple of years, the commercial use of several
indicators has been increased such as photochromic TTIs, poly-
mer based TTIs, microbial TTIs, diffusion based TTIs and
enzymatic TTIs for the evaluation of time temperature of dif-
ferent perishable foods developed by different packaging com-
panies (Table 2).
3.2.2. Gas indicators
It is very hard to maintain the quality of food materials within
the packaging system, due to many reasons such as respiration
of fresh fruits and vegetables, changing gas concentration and
gas leakage from inside or outside of the packaging materials,
or due to gas produced by microbial growth within the package
(Brody 2001; Lang and H€
ubert 2012). For the solutions of such
problems, gas indicators are introduced. These indicators are
used to provide information about the concentration of oxygen
or carbon dioxide gas within the packaging material by chang-
ing their colour due to a specific chemical or enzymatic reac-
tion. As these indicators have direct contact with the food
materials, they are able to give information about the presence
or absence of a gas (Han 2014). Gas indicators are mainly avail-
able in the form of a label, as a tablet, a printed layer or lami-
nated in a polymer film (Kuswandi et al. 2011).
An improved and easy to use oxygen gas indicator was
developed by Vu and Won (2013) for the detection of oxygen
gas and the prevention of dyes from leaching out in the packag-
ing material. The UV activated oxygen concentration indicator
film was prepared using thionine, P25 TiO2, glycerol, and an
encapsulating polymer with zein as redox dye. The leakage of
dye reached to almost 80% when the zein coated film was
dipped in water for one day. As the ion binding capability can
stop cation dye from leaching into water, the introduction of
alginate in the indicator system can reduce the dye leakage to
nearly 6%. This improved system can not only prevent the dye
from leaching out, but can also be used successfully as a gas
indicator, which can attain its initial colour very rapidly with
the help of oxygen gas.
Nopwinyuwong, Trevanich, and Suppakul (2010) has pro-
posed a packaging system to check intelligently the quality of
intermediate moisture dessert by monitoring the growth of car-
bon dioxide gas within the package system. In the spoiled des-
sert the growth of microorganism was detected by the
development of specific colour as a result of increased level of
carbon dioxide gas.
Hong and Park (2000) introduced an indicator for the detec-
tion of carbon dioxide gas without harming the packaging
material of the food. It was basically bromocresol purple or
methyl red, which was integrated into polymeric films (poly-
propylene resin and calcium hydroxide). This indicator not
only helps in the detection of carbon dioxide gas concentration
within the package, but also helps in the detection of food spoil-
age during storage and transportation. This device works on the
bases of pH dependent colour changes irrespective of the tem-
perature. As the concentration of the carbon dioxide changes
within the package of the food, the colour of the device changes
due to the change in pH of the system.
Other commercially available devices are Ageless EyeTM
developed by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co.(Tokyo, Japan),
VitalonÒby Toagosei Chemical Inc.(Tokyo, Japan), Shelf Life
Guard by UPM-Kymmene Corporation (Helsinki,Finland),
Table 2. Some commercially available time-temperature indicators.
Type of indicator Commercial name Company/country Working principle Websites
Photochromic TTIs OnvuTM Freshpoint, Switzerland Change of colour of
photochromic dyes and
pigments
http://www.onvu.com/
Polymer TTIs Fresh-CheckÒTEMPTIME Corporation USA Solid state polymerisation
reactions
http://fresh-check.com/about.asp
Microbial TTIs (eO) Òand TRACEO ÒCryolog, France Change of colour over time http://cryolog.com/en/company/
Diffusion based TTIs Monitor MarkTM and Freeze
Watch TM
3 M Company, USA Diffusion of coloured materials http://www.3m.com/
Enzymatic TTIs Check point ÒVitsab International AB, Sweden pH dependant colour changes http://vitsab.com/index.php/en/
startpage/
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION 5
Tufflex GS by Sealed Air Ltd.(Telford,UK), Freshilizer by Top-
pan Printing Co. (Japan) and gas absorbing packets
FreshpaxTM produced by Multisorb Technologies Inc. (USA)
(Fang et al. 2017; Ghaani et al. 2016;O’Grady and Kerry 2008).
Details of some of these devices are presented in Table 3.
3.2.3. Freshness indicators
For the purpose of checking microbial growth and informing
the users about the freshness of food products, freshness indica-
tors are developed. These devices provide information about
product quality in terms of microbial growth and food spoilage
(Lund, Baird-Parker, and Gould 2000). Food freshness indica-
tors are usually developed by using different organic acids
(such as acetic acid or lactic acid), glucose, ethanol, volatile
nitrogen compounds (such as trimethyl amine for packed fish
products), carbon dioxide, biogenic amines (for chicken and
beef) and sulfuric compounds to determine the freshness of the
packaged food products (Heising, Boekel, and Dekker 2015;
Pereira, Cruz, and Paseiro Losada 2011).
Rukchon et al. (2014) developed an indicator for the deter-
mination of freshness of chicken breast. It was basically a pH
and dye based system, which works on the determination of
colour produced by different levels of carbon dioxide gas in the
packaged chicken breast. Also Rokka et al. (2004) developed a
system to determine the freshness of broiler chicken. It worked
on the development of biogenic amines such as tyramine,
putrescine and cadaverine as quality indicators under different
storage temperatures. As the temperature increased, the levels
of different amines also increased in the stored broiler chicken,
representing different levels of the freshness of the chicken.
Recently, Zhai et al. (2017) prepared a colorimetric film for
the monitoring of fish freshness based on starch/polyvinyl alco-
hol (SPVA) incorporated with roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.)
anthocyanins (RACNs). The film was used to monitor the
freshness of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) at refrig-
eration temperature. The colorimetric films presented visible
color changes over time due to the presence of total volatile
basic nitrogen (TVB-N) amines. Therefore, the film could be
used to check the real-time fish freshness as intelligent packag-
ing device.
Besides work conducted on developing different freshness
and microbial growth indicators, A New Zealand based com-
pany “Jenkins Group”has introduced Ripe SenseÒ, which can
be used to indicate various stages of the ripeness of fruit for
representing their freshness levels. Basically this device is
designed to work on the detection of the aroma present in the
fruit. At the beginning, the indicator shows a red colour, with
the passage of time this colour changes to orange and then yel-
low, representing different maturity and freshness stages of the
fruit. Besides using pear fruit, this device can also be used for
other fruits such as melon, mango, kiwifruit and stone fruits (e.
g. peach, apricot, plum, etc.) to check various stages of their
ripeness (Pocas, Delgado, and Oliveira 2008).
Commercially available freshness indicators, such as Toxin
GuardÒby Toxin Alert Inc. (Ontario, Canada), Sensor QTM by
FQSI (Food Quality Sensor International) Inc. (Massachusetts,
USA), Fresh TagÒby COX Technologies (Belmont, North Car-
olina, USA) and Food Sentinel System by SIRA Technologies
Inc. (California, USA) are common for monitoring freshness
and growth of microorganisms in different food products
(Realini and Marcos 2014). Some of them are also highlighted
in Table 3.
3.3. Barcodes and radio frequency identification devices
(RFID)
Barcodes and RFID tags are mainly data carrier devices. A bar-
code is widely utilised in multi-scale departmental stores to
expedite record keeping, goods reordering and price checking
(Manthou and Vlachopoulou 2001). Usually barcode is the
arrangement of systematic side by side lines, which contains
hidden encoded data. The message is decoded and interpreted
by an optical barcode scanner that conveys the required mes-
sage to a system where it is kept for further necessary action
(Han 2014). Figure 3 presents different types of barcodes used
in the food sector.
Table 3. Some commercially available gas and freshness indicators in intelligent food packaging system.
Indicator type Indicator name Company name Purpose Indicating point References
Gas indicator Ageless EyeTM Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co.
Japan
Detection of oxygen gas Change of colour from pink
to blue or purple
Fang et al. (2017),
Kuswandi et al. (2011),
Ahvenainen (2003)
Shelf Life Guard UPM-Kymmene Corporation,
Finland
Detection of air within the
package environment
Change of colour from
transparent to blue
Ghaani et al. (2016)
Tell-Tab IMPAK Corporation, Los
Angeles, USA
Detection of oxygen gas
within the package
Change of colour from pink
to blue or purple
Han (2014), Realini and
Marcos (2014)
Freshness indicator Fresh TagÒCOX Technologies, USA Detection of decomposition
in seafood and other
protein products
Change of colour from
yellow to dark blue or
pink
Realini and Marcos (2014)
Sensor QÒFQSI (Food Quality Sensor
International) Inc.
Massachusetts, USA
Detection of bacterial growth
inside the package
Change of colour from
orange to tan (brown)
and then to green or
blue, denoting “beyond
spoiled”
Ghaani et al. (2016), Realini
and Marcos (2014)
Food Sentinel System SIRA Technologies Inc.
California, USA
Detection of pathogens in
food packages
The bar code becomes
unreadable upon
scanning
Ahvenainen (2003)
Toxin Guard Toxin Alert Inc. Ontario,
Canada
Incorporation of antibodies
into plastic packaging
films to detect pathogens
Packaging material displays a
visual signal to alert the
consumer
Ghaani et al. (2016), Realini
and Marcos (2014)
6M. SOHAIL ET AL.
RFID tags mainly consist of three components: a tag made
from a microchip linked to a small aerial, a reader capable of
discharging radio signals and also accepting answers from the
tag in reply to the sent signals, and a network system or web
server that connects the company and the RFID equipment
(Kumar et al. 2009; Costa et al. 2013). Most advanced RFID
systems have the capacity of accepting data from 100 m dis-
tance, with the storage range of 1MB. Presently, RFID system is
comprised of two types of tags: active and passive tags. The
usage of battery in the active tags makes it different from the
passive one, in which no battery is installed.
Eom et al. (2012) designed a RFID based system containing
O
2
and CO
2
sensors for the determination of freshness of vege-
tables, while Sen et al. (2013) proposed a system to monitor the
freshness of meat with the help of a system containing RFID
tag combined with a temperature sensor, a gas sensor, a reader,
and a server. This monitoring system successfully showed the
meat freshness for four grades, i.e. high, medium, low and
spoiled.
On the other hand, Mart
ınez-Olmos et al. (2013) developed
a RFID label integrated with an optical oxygen indicator con-
taining a platinum octa ethyl porphyrin film and an e-system
for communication with the RFID. The indicator was copied
on the interior part of an adaptable polymer based substrate, i.
e., polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), which was used as an
envelope for the packaged food. Mart
ınez-Olmos et al. (2013)
showed that the system was suitable for food packaging having
oxygen concentration less than 2%, a detection limit of 40 ppm
and a resolution as low as 0.1 ppm of O
2
with a 3.55 mA elec-
tricity usage. Recently, Amin, Karmakar, and Jensen (2016)
developedaunique chipless RFID sensor system for wireless
sensing of food and other tagged items. The specialty of the
developed chipless RFID sensor is that it is without chip and
requires no electricity source like other RFID systems. Thus its
application is easy and can be used without any maintenance
requirements.
3.4. Other intelligent tools
Besides the above mentioned tools, holograms and specialised
thermo chromic inks are also useful tools that can be used in
food packaging to make them intelligent.
3.4.1. Holograms
Hologram is an emerging tool in the field of intelligent packag-
ing. It can help to protect the brand name of the product as
well as to combat counterfeiting of a product.Due to the attrac-
tiveness and creativeness of the holographic packaging, manu-
factures should be able to develop a distinctive edge over the
other competitors in the market (Bellm, 2010).
Besides enhancing the brand image of the product, holo-
grams are also used to prevent food products and packaging
from tempering. With the help of the changing pattern of the
hologram, the counterfeiters are unable to alter the food prod-
uct or the label of the product. If a counterfeiter tries to remove
the hologram, the upper polyester film will also be removed,
leaving a message regarding tempering of the product (Pareek
and Khunteta 2014).
Holograms are mostly used in the pharmaceutical industry
for highly sophisticated drug products. However, their applica-
tion in the food packaging sector is very limited. With the tech-
nological advancement of the intelligent packaging system, it is
expected that holograms for food applications should be avail-
able in near future.
3.4.2. Thermo chromic inks
Thermo chromic inks have the ability to change their colour on
exposure to elevated temperature. These types of inks are
mostly used for beverage packaging or for microwave food
products, allowing consumers to know whether the product is
hot or cold to be served. Based on temperature, the colour pat-
tern of theses inks are either reversible or irreversible. Irrevers-
ible inks remain constant on exposure to a certain temperature
and do not change once they have attained a specific colour.
Reversible ink has the ability to change the colour once reached
to a certain temperature and as the temperature falls back, the
ink reverses back to its original colour (Vanderroost et al.
2014).
Usually these thermo chromic inks work on leuco dyes, and
these dyes have the ability to change their molecular structure
once exposed to a known temperature, producing a change in
the colour of the dyes. These types of inks are also used for con-
trolling counterfeiting and increasing the brand name of a spe-
cific product as thermo chromic labels instead of working as a
Figure 3. Some common types of barcodes used in the intelligent food packaging
sector (Ghaani et al. 2016).
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION 7
quality measurement tool (Robertson 2012).Similar to holo-
grams, the use of thermo chromic inks in the food packaging
sector is also very limited.
4. Other intelligent packaging solutions in supply
chain
As foods are delicate products, their quality attributes deterio-
rate during the whole supply chain. Constant vigilance is neces-
sary during their life cycle. Food quality can be deteriorated
either microbiologically or by any physical phenomena such as
mishandling during the whole supply chain, There should be a
system which can have the ability to closely monitor the food
product from the field to processing and then from a valuable
product to its end users.
Moreover, consumers require food products with more conve-
nience and less preparation steps. These food products should also
be fresh and provide high quality attributes. This ultimately requires
a systematic approach that can have the ability to check the food
products before processing, during processing and after processing.
Intelligent packaging can be used for this purpose to check the qual-
ity of the food products during the supply chain and provide the
necessary information to the end users (Heising et al. 2014).
4.1. Provision of convenience to consumers
Convenience has become a necessity for most people because of
their busy schedule and hectic life. A breakthrough in providing
the convenience is the development of intelligent films that can
be used for conventional heating as well as microwave heating.
This can be achieved by combining amorphous polyethylene
terephthalate (APET) with crystallized polyethylene terephthal-
ate (CPET), so that their properties can be combined for the
heating and storage purpose. Due to the crystalline nature,
CPET is heat resistance and can be easily used in traditional
heating or microwave ovens bearing the temperature up to
200
o
C. The amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (APET) is
used as a packaging material in combination with CPET to lower
the temperature of the packaged food product (Eilert 2005).
On-tech Delaware Inc. (San Diego, USA) developed a self-
heating packaging system for beverages such as coffee, which has
the ability to heat up to 62
o
Cinalmost6–7 minutes. The system
is composed of two cans, one inside the other can. The inner can
has calcium oxide in the form of limestone, while the outer can
has the beverage to be heated up. This packaging system also has
a closed disc containing water. There is a foil tab at the bottom
of the can, which can be pulled to mix the water into the particles
of limestone, resulting in an exothermic reaction. As a result the
beverage in the container heats up (Han 2014).
Another type of intelligent packaging for providing conve-
nience to the consumers is Soup at HandÒdeveloped by Cam-
bell Soup (Camden, NJ, USA). The soup is packaged in a high
density polyethylene container that is contour in shape. By
removing the top of the package, the soup can be heated inside
the container. Besides heating, the container provides addi-
tional convenience for the consumers, as there is a plastic cap
fitted on the top of the container, which helps in sipping the
hot soup without spilling. Therefore a can opener or a spoon
is not required for the spilling of the soup (Han 2014).
4.2. Marketing and branding of food products
Packaging plays a main role in the marketing and branding of a
food product as packaging is the first thing that affects con-
sumer decision to purchase the product. Therefore, it is the
integral part in the whole marketing process, describing the
image and portfolio of the product and even of the entire com-
pany (Keller 2003). Thus intelligent packaging is a great tool
for increasing the sales of the food products. The creation of
eye appealing characteristics and attractions on the packages
along with information on the quality and safety of the specific
food product help consumers to make more intelligent deci-
sions (Mohebbi 2014).
One such product was developed by ASAP Food Products
Company (Solon, OH, USA). The company developed “A
Super Amazing Popcorn”, which has printed cartoons, sports
items or other kid appealing characters on the popcorn packag-
ing pouches. The company has gained a great fame in the pop-
corn industry due to these attractions for children since its
starts from the last 20 years. These pouches are printed with
different colour graphics on character shaped microwavable
polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with a protective varnish cov-
ering. Besides these attractions, the company also provides high
quality nutrient rich popcorns for the children (Han 2014).
Hologram, which is another emerging intelligent packaging
material, can increase the brand image of a product in the mar-
ket. A holographic foil is an optical tool that is made from a
polyester film. The changing pattern of the holographic picture
can attract the consumer eye, thus increasing the brand name
of the product (Pareek and Khunteta 2014).
4.3. Controlling counterfeiting and theft
Theft, counterfeiting and tempering is a world-wide concern both
for the food industry and consumers. In order to tackle the dan-
ger of theft and counterfeiting for the food products, besides the
commonly used RFID system, bar codes, thermo-chromic inks,
dyes, holograms, tear taps, specialized laser labels and electronic
tags,there are also some special closures developed that are able
to identify the tempered food products. These plastic and alumin-
ium based closures are broken down during any attempt of coun-
terfeiting before reaching the final user (Robertson 2012).
Papetti et al. (2012) developed an integrated electronic
tracking system with a non-destructive quality analysis sys-
tem for a traditional Italian cheese. The system was devel-
oped for the identification of cheese products in such a way
to acquire and connect the necessary information that can
be available to the consumers or to related concern people
with the help of the RFID code. Moreover, A RFID based
system integrated with wireless sensor network was
designed by Rahman (2016) for the traceability of wine
components (e.g., pallet, container and beverage bottle) dur-
ing supply chain. The performance of the system was ana-
lysed with the help of numerical simulations. The
simulation results revealed the effectiveness of the system
for the tracking of wine components in real-time
environment.
Recently a food traceability system utilizing RFID technology
to track and trace food product location and wireless sensor
8M. SOHAIL ET AL.
network to collect temperature and humidity during storage and
transportation was proposed by Alfian et al. (2017). The
designed system was used for kimchi supply chain in Korea, and
showed positive results to suppliers as well as consumers to
detect the real-time location of the product as well as provide
complete temperature and humidity history. Therefore, the pro-
posed e-pedigree food traceability system could be helpful in
maximizing food distribution while also increasing customer sat-
isfaction, as it could also monitor product freshness (Figure 4).
5. Decision support system for intelligent food
packaging
Decision support system is used to take right and timely deci-
sion for the corrective use of intelligent devices in order to
enhance food quality and safety. Usually the purpose of this
system is to control the growth of microorganisms in fresh or
processed foods. One such conceptual framework of intelligent
decision support system proposed by Yam (2012) is presented
in Figure 5.
Theuseofdecisionsupportsystemiscommoninbusi-
ness related tasks. As far as its use in intelligent food pack-
aging is concerned, it requires more scientific knowledge to
maintain food quality and safety. Earlier different mathe-
matical models such as kinetic models are commonly used
to determine the microbial growth and food quality in food
packaging system, however these techniques are now not
adequate for food packaging systems such as intelligent
packaging. Instead of using the old techniques, inductive
learning technique, fuzzy logic system, neural network and
artificial intelligence techniques can be adopted for success-
ful decision support systems in intelligent packaging (Yam,
Takhistov, and Miltz 2005).
One example is the work of Ahsyar et al. (2015), who used
C4.5 decision tree algorithm for packaging of different meat
products. It was a web-based decision support system for
Figure 4. Traceability system in food supply chain (Alfian et al. 2017) (a) Proposed e-pedigree food traceability system architecture, (b) RFID and handheld reader to read
RFID tag, (c) Sensor reads temperature-humidity from cold storage.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION 9
packaging of meat products with the help of PHP programming
language and MySQL database. The main features of this sys-
tem include user profile, types of meat products, types of pack-
aging materials and comments from the user. The developed
system can be successfully run on different web browsers.
6. Conclusions and future prospective
Intelligent packaging is an innovation in the food packaging
sector. This technology has the ability to provide better
quality food products to the users. With the implementation
of some useful devices such as time temperature indicators,
freshness indicators, gas concentration indicators, etc., con-
sumers can obtain fresher and better quality food products.
Similarly bar codes, RFID tags, thermo-chromic inks, holo-
grams and tear taps provide solutions to the industry,
retailers and consumers to protect food products from
counterfeiting and theft.
With the advancement in the technology, the future of
the intelligent packaging is very bright. More advanced
tools should be available to replace the existing intelligent
packaging system such as electronic labeling comprising of
chip with ink technology during printing of labels. It is also
expected that future packages might be able to chat with
users. Thus mishandling of food products during freezing,
refrigeration, cooking and microwaving could be minimized
by consumer interaction. Moreover, thermo chromic mate-
rials could be used in the food packaging containers to pro-
tect the food materials from direct sun light by changing
the container colour.
It can be assumed that in the near future all the single
devices such as time temperature indicators, gas
concentration and freshness indicators can be integrated
into one single device. Such a combined single device would
be powerful and useful for providing information regarding
the quality characteristics of the food product. Therefore
integrated advance research in the field of electronics,
mechanical engineering and food engineering should be
conducted for the successful growth of the intelligent food
packaging. By this way, intelligent packaging should be able
to play an even critical role in enhancing the quality and
safety of perishable food materials.
Similarly,workshouldbedonetoreducethepriceofthe
intelligently packaged food products. It is estimated that the
cost of the original food product is almost doubled with the
use of intelligent packaging. There are also legal issues
raised by the food administrative agencies, which are related
to the successful implementation of the intelligent packag-
ing system rather than just focusing on the development of
new tools and instruments, and these issues should be
solved for further applications of the technology.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the National Key R&D Program of China
(2017YFD0400404) for its support. This research was also supported
by the Collaborative Innovation Major Special Projects of Guangzhou
City (201604020057), the Agricultural Development and Rural Work
of Guangdong Province (2017LM4173), the International and Hong
Kong –Macau –Taiwan Collaborative Innovation Platform of Guang-
dong Province on Intelligent Food Quality Control and Process Tech-
nology & Equipment (2015KGJHZ001), the Guangdong Provincial R
& D Centre for the Modern Agricultural Industry on Non-destructive
Detection and Intensive Processing of Agricultural Products, the Com-
mon Technical Innovation Team of Guangdong Province on
Figure 5. Conceptual frame work of intelligent decision support system (Yam 2012).
10 M. SOHAIL ET AL.
Preservation and Logistics of Agricultural Products (2016LM2154) and
the Innovation Centre of Guangdong Province for Modern Agricul-
tural Science and Technology on Intelligent Sensing and Precision
Control of Agricultural Product Qualities. In addition, Muhammad
Sohail is in receipt of a PhD scholarship from the China Scholarship
Council (CSC).
Funding
The National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFD0400404). The Col-
laborative Innovation Major Special Projects of Guangzhou City
(201604020057). The Agricultural Development and Rural Work of
Guangdong Province (2017LM4173). The International and Hong Kong –
Macau –Taiwan Collaborative Innovation Platform of Guangdong Prov-
ince on Intelligent Food Quality Control and Process Technology & Equip-
ment (2015KGJHZ001). The Guangdong Provincial R & D Centre for the
Modern Agricultural Industry on Non-destructive Detection and Intensive
Processing of Agricultural Products, the Common Technical Innovation
Team of Guangdong Province on Preservation and Logistics of Agricul-
tural Products (2016LM2154).
References
Ahsyar, T. K., K. B. Seminar, I. Hermadi, and N. E. Suyatma. 2015. Deci-
sion support system for selecting of meat product packaging. Interna-
tional Journal of Information Technology and Business Management 42
(1):17–24.
Ahvenainen, R. 2003.Novel food packaging techniques,11–12, 88–89, 108–
113, 134–135, 536–541. Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Publishing.
Alfian, G., J. Rhee, H. Ahn, J. Lee, U. Farooq, M. F. Ijaz, and M. A. Syae-
khoni. 2017. Integration of RFID, wireless sensor networks and data
mining in an e-pedigree food traceability system. Journal of Food Engi-
neering 212:65–75.
Amin, E. M., N. C. Karmakar, and B. W. Jensen. 2016. Fully printable chip-
less RFID multi-parameter sensor. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical
248:223–32.
Bagchi, A. 2012. Intelligent sensing and packaging of foods for enhance-
ment of shelf life: concepts and applications. International Journal of
Scientific & Engineering Research 3 (10):1–13.
Baleizao, C., S. Nagl, M. Schaferling, M. N. Berberan-Santos, and O. S.
Wolfbeis. 2008. Dual fluorescence sensor for trace oxygen and temper-
ature with unmatched range and sensitivity. Analytical Chemistry
80:6449–57.
Borchert, N. B., J. P. Kerry, and D. B. Papkovsky. 2013.ACO
2
sensor based
on Pt-porphyrin dye and FRET scheme for food packaging applica-
tions. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 176:157–65.
Brody, A. L. 2001. What’s active about intelligent packaging?. Food Tech-
nology 55:75–78.
Bellm, D. 2010. Holograms offer added dimensions in packaging security.
Available at http://www.packagingdigest.com/holograms-offer-added-
dimensions-packaging-security (Accessed on March 27, 2018).
Cheng, J.-H., D.-W. Sun, and H. Pu. 2016. Combining the genetic algo-
rithm and successive projection algorithm for the selection of feature
wavelengths to evaluate exudative characteristics in frozen-thawed fish
muscle. Food Chemistry 197:855–863.
Cheng, L., D.-W. Sun, Z. Zhu, and Zi. Zhang. 2017. Emerging techniques
for assisting and accelerating food freezing processes: A review of
recent research progresses. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutri-
tion 57:769–781.
Cheng, W., D.-W. Sun, H. Pu, and W. Qingyi. 2018. Characterization of
myofibrils cold structural deformation degrees of frozen pork using
hyperspectral imaging coupled with spectral angle mapping algorithm.
Food Chemistry 239:1001–1008.
Costa, C., F. Antonucci, F. Pallottino, J. Aguzzi, D. Sarria, and P. Menesatti.
2013. A review on agri-food supply chain traceability by means of
RFID technology. Food and Bioprocess Technology 6(2):353–366.
Demas, J. N., B. A. DeGraff, and P. B. Coleman. 1999. Oxygen sensors
based on luminescence quenching. Analytical Chemistry 71:793–800.
Desmond, E. M., T.A. Kenny, P. Ward, and D.-W. Sun. 2000. Effect of
rapid and conventional cooling methods on the quality of cooked ham
joints. Meat Science 56:271–277.
Eilert, S. J. 2005. New packaging technologies for the 21st century. Meat
Science 71:122–27.
Eom, K. H., M. C. Kim, S. J. Lee, and C. W. Lee. 2012. The vegetable fresh-
ness monitoring system using RFID with oxygen and carbon dioxide
sensor. International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks 8(6):1–6.
Fang, Z., Y. Zhao, R. D. Warner, and S. K. Johnson. 2017. Active and intel-
ligent packaging in meat industry. Trends in Food Science & Technology
61:60–71.
Galagan, Y., S. H. Hsu, and W. F. Su. 2010. Monitoring time and tempera-
ture by methylene blue containing polyacrylate film. Sensors and
Actuators B: Chemical 144:49–55.
Ghaani, M., C. A. Cozzolino, G. Castelli, and S. Farris. 2016. An overview
of the intelligent packaging technologies in the food sector. Trends in
Food Science & Technology 51:1–11.
Giannakourou, M. C., K. Koutsoumanis, G. J. E. Nychas, and P. S. Taoukis.
2005. Field evaluation of the application of time temperature integra-
tors for monitoring fish quality in the chill chain. International Journal
of Food Microbiology 102:323–36.
Han, J. H. 2014.Intelligent packaging for food products.Innovations in
food packaging, 2nd Ed., 171–209.Amsterdam:Ed.ElsevierAca-
demic Press.
Heising, J. K., M. A. J. S.V. Boekel, and M. Dekker. 2015. Simulations on
the prediction of cod (Gadusmorhua) freshness from an intelligent
packaging sensor concept. Food Packaging and Shelf Life 3:47–55.
Heising, J. K., M. Dekker, P. V. Bartels, and M. A. J. S.V. Boekel. 2014.
Monitoring the quality of perishable foods: Opportunities for intelligent
packaging. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 54:645–54.
Hogan, S. A., and J. Kerry. 2008. Smart packaging of meat and poultry
products. Smart packaging technologies for fast moving consumer goods,
ed. J. Kerry, and P. Butler, Chapter 3. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley &
Sons Ltd.
Hong, S. I., and W. S. Park. 2000. Use of color indicators as an active pack-
aging system for evaluating kimchi fermentation. Journal of Food Engi-
neering 46:67–72.
Hu, Zh., and D.-W. Sun. 2000. CFD simulation of heat and moisture trans-
fer for predicting cooling rate and weight loss of cooked ham during
air-blast chilling process. Journal of Food Engineering 46:189–197.
Hutton, T. 2003.Food packaging: An introduction. Key topics in food sci-
ence and technology-Number 7, 108. Chipping Campden: Campden
and Chorleywood Food Research Association Group.
Kader, A. A., and S. Ben-Yehoshua. 2000. Effect of superatmospheric oxy-
gen levels on postharvest physiology and quality of fresh fruits and veg-
etables. Postharvest Biology and Technology 20:1–13.
Keller, K. L. 2003.Strategic brand management: Building, measuring and
managing brand equity. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Kerry, J. P., M. N. O’Grady, and S. A. Hogan. 2006. Past, current and
potential utilization of active and intelligent packaging systems for
meat and muscle-based products: a review. Meat Science 74:113–30.
Kiani, H., D.-W. Sun, A. Delgado, and Z. Zhang. 2012. Investigation of the
effect of power ultrasound on the nucleation of water during freezing of
agar gel samples in tubing vials. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 19:576–581.
Kim, J. U., K. Ghafoor, J. Ahn, S. Shin, S. H. Lee, H. M. Shahbaz, H. H.
Shin, S. Kim, and J. Park. 2016. Kinetic modeling and characterization
of a diffusion-based time-temperature indicator (TTI) for monitoring
microbial quality of non-pasteurized angelica juice. LWT-Food Science
and Technology 67:143–50.
Kumar, P., H. W. Reinitz, J. Simunovic, K. P. Sandeep, and P. D. Franzon.
2009. Overview of RFID technology and its applications in the food
industry. Journal of Food Science 74:101–106.
Kuswandi, B., Y. Wicaksono, Jayus, A. Abdullah, L. Heng, and M. Ahmad.
2011. Smart packaging: sensors for monitoring of food quality and safety.
Sensing and Instrumentation for Food Quality and Safety 5:137–46.
Lang, C., and T. H€
ubert. 2012. A colour ripeness indicator for Apples. Food
and Bioprocess Technology 5(8):3244–3249.
Lee, K., and S. Ko. 2014. Proof-of-concept study of a whey protein isolate
based carbon dioxide indicator to measure the shelf-life of packaged
foods. Food Science and Biotechnology 23:115–20.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION 11
Lee, S. Y., S. J. Lee, D. S. Choi, and S. J. Hur. 2015. Current topics in active
and intelligent food packaging for preservation of fresh foods. Journal
of the Science of Food and Agriculture 95:2799–810.
Lim, S. H., W. Y. Choe, B. H. Son, and K. W. Hong. 2014. Development of
a microbial time-temperature integrator system using lactic acid bacte-
ria. Food Science and Biotechnology 23 (2):483–87.
Llobet, E. 2013. Gas sensors using carbon nanomaterials: a review. Sensors
and Actuators B: Chemical 179:32–45.
Lund, B. M., A. C. Baird-Parker, and G. W. Gould. 2000.The microbiolog-
ical safety and quality of foods. Gaithersburg: Aspen Publishers.
Luning, P. A., W. J. Marcelis, and W. M. F. Jongen. 2002.Food quality man-
agement: A techno-managerial approach. Wageningen: WageningenPers.
Ma, Ji., D.-W. Sun, J.-H. Qu, and H. Pu. 2017. Prediction of textural
changes in grass carp fillets as affected by vacuum freeze drying using
hyperspectral imaging based on integrated group wavelengths. Lwt-
Food Science and Technology 82:377–385.
Ma, Q., L. Du, and L. Wang. 2017. Tara gum/polyvinyl alcohol-based col-
orimetric NH
3
indicator films incorporating curcumin for intelligent
packaging. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 244:759–66.
Ma, Ji., H. Pu, D.-W. Sun, W. Gao, J.-H. Qu, and K.-Y. Ma. 2015. Applica-
tion of Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging in classification between fresh
and frozen-thawed pork Longissimus Dorsi muscles. International
Journal of Refrigration-Revue Internationale Du Froid 50:10–18.
Manthou, V., and M. Vlachopoulou. 2001. Bar code technology for inventory
and marketing management systems: a model for its development and
implementation. International Journal of Production Economics 71:157–64.
Mart
ınez-Olmos, A., J. Fern
andez-Salmer
on, N. Lopez-Ruiz, A. Rivade-
neyra Torres, L. F. Capitan-Vallvey, and A. J. Palma. 2013. Screen
printed flexible radiofrequency identification tag for oxygen monitor-
ing. Analytical Chemistry 85 (22):11098–105.
McDonald, K., D.-W. Sun, and T. Kenny. 2001. The effect of injection level
on the quality of a rapid vacuum cooled cooked beef product . Journal
of Food Engineering 47:139–147.
McDonald, K., and D. -W. Sun 2001. The formation of pores and their
effects in a cooked beef product on the efficiency of vacuum cooling.
Journal of Food Engineering 47:175–183.
McMillin, K. W. 2008. Where is MAP Going? A review and future poten-
tial of modified atmosphere packaging for meat. Meat Science 80:43–65.
Mehauden, K., S. Bakalis, P. Cox, P. Fryer, and M. Simmons. 2008. Use of
time temperature integrators for determining process uniformity in
agitated vessels. Innovative Food Science and Emerging Technologies 9
(3):385–95.
Meng, X., M. Zhang, and B. Adhikari. 2012. Extending shelf-life of fresh-
cut green peppers using pressurized argon treatment. Postharvest Biol-
ogy and Technology 71:13–20.
Mills, A. 2005. Oxygen indicators and intelligent inks for packaging food.
Chemical Society Reviews 34:1003–11.
Mir, S. A., M. A. Shah, B. N. Dar, A. A. Wani, S. A. Ganai, and J. Nishad.
2017. Supercritical impregnation of active components into polymers
for food packaging applications. Food and Bioprocess Technology 10
(9):1749–1754.
Mohebbi, B. 2014. The art of packaging: An investigation into the role of
color in packaging, marketing, and branding. International Journal of
Organizational Leadership 3:92–102.
Neethirajan, S., D. S. Jayas, and S. Sadistap. 2009. Carbon dioxide (CO2)
sensors for the agri - food industry - A Review. Food and Bioprocess
Technology 2(2):115–121.
Nopwinyuwong, A., S. Trevanich, and P. Suppakul. 2010. Development of
a novel colorimetric indicator label for monitoring freshness of inter-
mediate-moisture dessert spoilage. Talanta 81:1126–32.
O’Grady, M. N., and J. P. Kerry. 2008. Smart packaging technology. Meat
biotechnology, ed. F. Toldra, 425–51. New York: Ed. Springer.
Oliveira, M., M. Abadias, J. Usall, R. Torres, N. Teixid, and I. Vinas. 2015.
Application of modified atmosphere packaging as a safety approach to
fresh-cut fruits and vegetables. A review. Trends in Food Science &
Technology 46:13–26.
Papetti, P., C. Costa, F. Antonucci, S. Figorilli, S. Solaini, and P. Menesatti.
2012. A RFID web-based infotracing system for the artisanal Italian
cheese quality traceability. Food Control 27:234–41.
Pareek, V., and A. Khunteta. 2014. Pharmaceutical packaging: Current
trends and Future. International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceu-
tical Sciences 6 (6):480–85.
Pereira, D. A. D. A., J. M. Cruz, and P. Paseiro Losada. 2011. Active and
intelligent packaging for the food industry. Food Reviews International
28:146–87.
Pereira, V. A., Jr., I. N. Q. de Arruda, and R. Stefani. 2015. Active chitosan/
PVA films with anthocyanins from Brassica oleraceae (Red Cabbage)
as time-temperature indicators for application in intelligent food pack-
aging. Food Hydrocolloids 43:180–88.
Phillips, C. A. 1996. Modified atmosphere packaging and its effects on the
microbiological quality and safety of produce. International Journal of
Food Science and Technology 31:463–79.
Pocas, M. F. F., T. F. Delgado, and F. A. R. Oliveira. 2008. Smart packaging
technologies for fruits and vegetables. Smart packaging technologies,
151–66. West Sussex PO19 8SQ: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Pu, H., D.-W. Sun, Ma. Ji, and J.-H. Cheng. 2015. Classification of fresh
and frozen-thawed pork muscles using visible and near infrared hyper-
spectral imaging and textural analysis. Meat Science 99:81–88.
Pu, Y.-Y., and D.-W. Sun. 2016. Prediction of moisture content uniformity
of microwave-vacuum dried mangoes as affected by different shapes
using NIR hyperspectral imaging. Innovative Food Science and Emerg-
ing Technologies 33:348–356.
Pu, Y.-Y., and D.-W. Sun. 2017. Combined hot-air and microwave-vac-
uum drying for improving drying uniformity of mango slices based on
hyperspectral imaging visualisation of moisture content distribution.
Biosystems Engineering 156:108–119.
Qu, J.-H., D.-W. Sun, J.-H. Cheng, and H. Pu. 2017. Mapping moisture
contents in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) slices under different
freeze drying periods by Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging. Lwt-Food Sci-
ence and Technology 75:529–536.
Rahman, M. A. 2016. RFID based tracing for wine supply chain.
International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed
Systems 16 (1):48–70.
Realini, C. E., and B. Marcos. 2014. Active and intelligent packaging sys-
tems for a modern society. Meat Science 98 (3):404–19.
Regattieri, A., M. Gamberi, and R. Manzini. 2007. Traceability of food
products: general framework and experimental evidence. Journal of
Food Engineering 81 (2):347–56.
Robertson, G. L. 2012.Food packaging: Principles and practice. 3rd ed.
Boca Raton, Florida, USA: Taylor & Francis.
Rokka,M.,S.Eerola,M.Smolander,H.L.Alakomi,andR.
Ahvenainen. 2004. Monitoring of the quality of modified
atmosphere packaged broiler chicken cuts in different temperature
conditions: B. Biogenic amines as quality-indicating metabolites.
Food Control 15:601–607.
Rukchon, C., A. Nopwinyuwong, S. Trevanich, T. Jinkarn, and P. Suppa-
kul. 2014. Development of a food spoilage indicator for monitoring
freshness of skinless chicken breast. Talanta 130:547–54.
Sen, L., K. H. Hyun, J. W. Kim, J. W. Shin, and K. H. Eom. 2013. The
design of smart RFID system with gas sensor for meat freshness moni-
toring. Advanced Science and Technology Letters 41:17–20.
Siro, I. 2012. Active and intelligent packaging of food. Progress in food pres-
ervation, ed. R. Bhat, A. K. Alias, and G. Paliyath, 23–48. New York:
John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Sivertsvik, M., W. K. Jeksrud, and J. T. Rosnes. 2002. A review of modified
atmosphere packaging of fish and fishery products –significance of
microbial growth, activities and safety. International Journal of Food
Science and Technology 37:107–27.
Smiddy, M., M. Fitzgerald, J. P. Kerry, D. B. Papkovsky, C. K. O’Sullivan,
and G. G. Guilbault. 2002. Use of oxygen sensors to non-destructively
measure the oxygen content in modified atmosphere and vacuum
packed beef: impact of oxygen content on lipid oxidation. Meat Science
61 (3):285–90.
Sun, D.-W. 1999. Comparison and selection of EMC ERH isotherm equa-
tions for rice. Journal of Stored Products Research 35:249–264.
Sun, D.-W., and I. W. Eames. 1996. Performance characteristics of HCFC-
123 ejector refrigeration cycles. International Journal of Energy
Research 20:871–885.
12 M. SOHAIL ET AL.
Sun, D.-W., and J. L. Woods. 1993. The moisture-content relative-humidity
equilibrium relationship of wheat - a review. Drying Technology
11:1523–1551.
Sun, D.-W., and J. L. Woods. 1994. The selection of sorption isotherm
equations for wheat-based on the fitting of available data. Journal of
Stored Products Research 30:27–43.
Sun, D.-W., and J. L. Woods. 1994. Low-temperature moisture transfer
characteristics of barley: thin-layer models and equilibrium isotherms.
Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 59:273–283.
Sun, D.-W., and J. L. Woods. 1994. Low-temperature moisture transfer
characteristics of wheat in thin-layers. Transactions of the ASAE
37:1919–1926.
Vaikousi, H., C. G. Biliaderis, and K. P. Koutsoumanis. 2008. Development
of a microbial time/temperature indicator prototype for monitoring
the microbiological quality of chilled foods. Applied and Environmental
Microbiology 74 (10):3242–50.
Vanderroost, M., P. Ragaert, F. Devlieghere, and B. D. Meulenaer. 2014.
Intelligent food packaging: The next generation. Trends in Food Science
& Technology 39:47–62.
Vu,C.H.T.,andK.Won.2013. Novel water-resistant UV-activated
oxygen indicator for intelligent food packaging. Food Chemistry
140:52–56.
Vu, C. H. T., and K. Won. 2014. Leaching-resistant carrageenan-based col-
orimetric oxygen indicator films for intelligent food packaging. Journal
of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 62:7263–67.
Wang, L. J., and D. -W. Sun. 2001. Rapid cooling of porous and moisture
foods by using vacuum cooling technology. Trends in Food Science and
Technology 12:174–184.
Xie, A., D.-W. Sun, Z. Xu, and Z. Zhu. 2015. Rapid detection of frozen
pork quality without thawing by Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging tech-
nique. Talanta 139:208–215.
Xie, A., D.-W. Sun, Z. Zhu, and H. Pu. 2016. Nondestructive Meas-
urements of Freezing Parameters of Frozen Porcine Meat by NIR
Hyperspectral Imaging. Food and Bioprocess Technology 9:1444–
1454.
Yam, K. L., P. T. Takhistov, and J. Miltz. 2005. Intelligent packaging: con-
cepts and applications. Journal of Food Science 70:1–10.
Yam, K. L. 2012. Intelligent packaging to enhance food safety and
quality. Emerging food packaging technologies: Principles and prac-
tice,ed.K.L.Yam,andD.S.Lee,139.Philadelphia:Woodhead
Publishing Limited.
Yan, S., C. Huawei, Z. Limin, R. Fazheng, Z. Luda, and Z. Hengtao. 2008.
Development and characterization of a new amylase type time-temper-
ature indicator. Food Control 19:315–19.
Yang, Q., D.-W. Sun, and W. Cheng. 2017. Development of simplified
models for nondestructive hyperspectral imaging monitoring of
TVB-N contents in cured meat during drying process. Journal of Food
Engineering 192:53–60.
Zhai, X., J. Shi, X. Zou, S. Wang, C. Jiang, J. Zhang, X. Huang, W. Zhang,
and M. Holmes. 2017. Novel colorimetric films based on starch/polyvi-
nyl alcohol incorporated with roselle anthocyanins for fish freshness
monitoring. Food Hydrocolloids 69:308–17.
Zhang, J., L. Liu, W. Mu, L. M. Moga, and X. Zhang. 2009. Development of
temperature managed traceability system for frozen and chilled food
during storage and transportation. Journal of Food, Agriculture and
Environment 7 (3&4):28–31.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION 13
