Decoded: 3 new technologies that will help us combat food wastage 

Food is a the basic that we need to survive. But did you know more than 30 per cent of food gets lost or wasted every day. The loss occurs due to supply chains and long before the food reaches our supermarkets. From destruction of livestock to loss of crops, to rotting away of food due to poor storage facilities, or during processing, packaging and even transport – all of which are responsible for food loss. In contrast, food gets wasted at the consumer level. It either gets stale and is hence discarded or simply buying or preparing more than one can consume.  

Now, guess how it affects mankind and the environment? Several estimates suggest that 2.3 billion people go hungry, that is roughly 29 per cent of the entire global population. Moreover, the wasted food often ends up in landfills or water, resulting in severe pollution. Besides, there are also billions of dollars of financial loss in the process. Keeping all these in mind, it has become the need of the hour to find effective ways to combat food wastage. Today, we shall discuss three such technologies that help to do so. 

Smarterware storage system 
This storage system called Smarterware involves attaching “Smart Tags” on food containers. The tag not only has the information on what kind of food it is but also keeps track of its shelf life. In fact, using a mobile app, one can press the start button to initiate a countdown. The Smarterware comes into play when the food is past half of its shelf life. It is then that the Smart Tag begins changing its colours and keeps sending notifications on your smartphone reminding you to finish it before its expiry. Isn’t the process cool? So, now no more standing in front of the fridge and wondering whether your daal chawal will give you food poisoning or not. Interestingly, the Smarterware tracks all the information in case of packaged foods and in case of home-made food, all you need to do is to print the information and put it on the Smart Tag. Green light indicates that food is fresh, yellow asks you to eat it on priority, while red indicates that it is past expiry. A Chicago-based company named Ovie specialises in it and is said to be inspired by Tupperware.  

Ethylene absorber 
If you are a Chemistry enthusiast, you may know that when fruits such as apples and bananas start to ripen, they produce something called ethylene gas. Experts say that the more the ethylene is released, the more easily the fruit gets ripened. So, this means, ethylene is actually effective to keep food from early ripening. Maybe that’s why the food storage industry has often used ethylene absorbers in the shape of sachets, filters or films to stop premature rotting or ripening. However, companies realised that it will work far better if directly targeted at customers. As a result, technologies such as Bluapple and Keep Fresh have been developed. The first is a blue-coloured plastic apple that can be tucked into food drawers and refrigerators to absorb the excess ethylene by oxidising it with sodium permanganate. The technique is same for Keep Fresh too. Both technologies help keep fruits and vegetables fresh almost three times longer.  

Hyperspectral imaging 
Although it sounds complicated, this technology is fairly simple. It divides the electromagnetic spectrum into infinite bands and help locate food facts that can’t be traced by naked human eye. At present, this technology is installed into a mini camera that helps locate when food is about to ripen. How? The darker the image appears, the riper the food is. Currently only available to food inspectors and other professionals, many companies are trying to reach the technology directly to customers. Maybe someday, the technology will be available in your smartphones!