From clenbuterol, “sterilizing” cucumbers, “blasting” watermelons, to dyeing steamed buns, reconstituted bread, plasticizers... The recent food safety scandals have been frightening and scary, and how to be relieved to become a topic that people have to pay attention to. At the China International Internet of Things Conference held recently, participating experts stated that building a three-dimensional Internet of Things system not only traces the origin of food, but also seamlessly senses and monitors in real time in the food production process, stifling food safety issues. In the cradle.

Supervising food safety "with one hand"

Professor at the University of Twente, Netherlands, and CTO of Ambient Systems. M. Havinga said that Ambient Systems has developed third-generation RFID technology that can not only monitor the bagging of items, but also locate these items. Once an abnormal situation such as a temperature change occurs, it will issue a warning. In addition to the functions of dynamic tracking and event reporting, it also enables the management of the shelf life of cold chain racks. If there is a sensor on the transporter, it also captures various parameters regarding the freshness of the food. Judging from the degree of freshness, it is judged whether it is on the shelf or should be placed in the storage room to avoid the loss of some fresh food.

Zheng Lirong, Dean of Fudan University’s School of Information and professor at the Royal Swedish University of Science and Technology, said that RFID tags are only part of the "Internet of Things," and wireless waveguides and embedded processing functions are also important applications. Food safety should be an open platform, with a variety of users doing services, rather than producers themselves to do sensor networks and deliver food safety information. "People who don't sell tell you that food is safe, but an independent information collector tells you food safety."

Even in food tracking and monitoring, there are many studies. Zheng Lirong said that during the transportation process, food will undergo various changes. It will rot due to changes in temperature or humidity and will be damaged due to unreasonable handling during transportation. Therefore, there must be sensors with temperature and humidity during the measurement process. Sensors, acceleration sensors, etc., have sensors installed in grain warehouses. Through the collection of information, not only to ensure food safety, but also to do some secondary services, such as how to price, how to reduce food waste, how to improve the logistics chain management and so on.

"Clenbuterol" directly into the blacklist In fact, now some of the advanced Internet of Things technology has been first tested in some of the Shanghai food market. From live pigs to slaughtered pork, every procedure uses chips to record detailed information; even at the consumer end, there is a unique “electronic ID card” for consumer traceability and inquiry. After perfecting the traceability system, almost all pork sold in Shanghai will have its own "electronic ID card."

It is reported that during the slaughtering process, each hook carrying live pigs has a dollar-sized chip. The chip records information on the origin of pigs, inspection and quarantine, and production inspection data such as weight and grade, as well as important information such as who handled the pig; after the slaughter is complete, the pig will have a unique number. After the pork has flown to the market, if there is a problem, it can quickly backtrack and ensure safety based on this information. Even if the internal organs of the pig are separated from the body, they can be traced back to the source through a unified code. After sales of live pigs, information on sales outlets such as hypermarkets and standardized food farms will be recorded in detail in the system. Consumers can check the information on the Internet to find out where the pork is being purchased and where they are breeding farms, and achieve full traceability.

Gu Zhenhua, Director of Food Inspection Division of Shanghai Food and Drug Administration stated that the traceability system of pork has covered 16 slaughterhouses and eight large-scale wholesale markets in Shanghai, achieving full monitoring from source to dining table and facilitating government supervision. “The culture link has been traced back to the past, but Shanghai has extended this traceability system from the cultivation link to the consumption end, so that every piece of pork can be directly traced to the source. Once a lean meat extract is found in a foreign farm, it will be directly included. The “black list” prohibits the flow of live pigs from the farm into Shanghai and reports to the relevant local regulatory authorities; local farms that are found to have irregularities will also be transferred to related departments for investigation. Gu Zhenhua said that with the development of technology, The Internet of Things technology will also be more widely used and will play a key role in addressing food safety issues.