Non-intrusive sensing for quantitative food analysis

The recent food scandals involving horsemeat in European beef products and Chinese milk
contaminated with melamine highlighted the increased consumer awareness in food purity,
the importance of food integrity and the need for frequent analytical tests in the food supply
chain. There is an increasing demand for novel monitoring methods that could provide fast,
large-scale, and in situ quality controls. For example, a major challenge in this area is the
identification of the botanical origin of vegetable oils, and mainly the detection of the
presence of the ethically dubious palm oils in oil blends. The goal of this project is to develop
a commercial and market strategy surrounding a new methodology for non-intrusive food
sensing based on microwave technology, which uses low power radio waves to determine the
material properties of a substance. The proposed FoodWise device will ensure that consumers,
UK government bodies and reference laboratories will be employing cutting edge yet practical
methodologies with respect to food production, processing, analysis, and contamination
detection.