The influence of food composition and tag orientation on UHF RF IDentification

Anticounterfeiting and Fraud Mitigation Solutions for High-value Food Products

Globalization and the increasing complexity of supply chains have allowed food fraud to expand to a great extent. Some of the most serious effects of these deceitful activities are damage to a brand's reputation and trust, economic losses, and public health risks. The usual victims of food fraud are dairy, meat, fish, and seafood products, as well as fats/oils and alcoholic drinks. The purpose of this review paper is to present an updated analysis of the currently available anticounterfeit technologies and their application to the four most fraud-affected food supply chains. An assessment that was conducted to determine when the adoption of a combination of technologies could enhance food safety and brand protection is also provided. The obtained results indicate that electronic and data-driven technologies (RFID devices and digital traceability systems) are still in their infancy in the food sectors that are subjected the most to fraudulent activities. Research is necessary to develop innovative digital and physical technologies to "outsmart" such fraudsters and to prevent their illicit actions in the food sector.

Effect of Beverage Composition on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Performance Using Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Bottles for Smart Food Packaging Applications

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is crucial in revolutionizing the food supply chain and combating global food waste. However, this technology faces challenges in full integration due to disruptive effects on tags caused by the dielectric properties of food and beverage ingredients, chemical constituents, and their packaging. This paper aims to demonstrate the effect of packaging and beverage contents on RFID tag performance. Three commercially available ultra-high frequency (UHF) RFID tags with different designs were tested on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, measuring tag performance through sensitivity, backscatter, and read range in the presence of various water-based solutions and commercially available beverages. The results highlight the substantial impact of the beverage type and tag design on RFID performance. The results of this study showed that tag 3 was the most consistent and readable tag amongst those tested in the presence of different beverage contents. Tag 3 resulted in a sensitivity ranging from -0.49 to -2.01 dBm, backscatter from -38.16 to 43.59 dBm, and read range from 1.58 to 1.88 m, while tag 1 performed the best in the presence of an empty PET bottle resulting in a sensitivity of -20.78 dBm, backscatter of -23.65 dBm, and read range of 16.34 m. The results of this study can be used for further investigations to develop a mathematical model that predicts the RFID tag performance based on the food composition. This model will be helpful for the design of the tags while facilitating the adoption of smart packaging for food traceability.

Development of radio-frequency identification (RFID) sensors suitable for smart-monitoring applications in sewer systems

Sanitary and stormwater sewers are buried assets that play important roles in the prevention of diseases and the reduction of health risks for our societies. Due to their hidden nature, these assets are not frequently assessed and maintained to optimal conditions. The lack of maintenance can cause sewer blockages and overflows that result in the release of pathogens into the environment. For cities, monitoring sewer conditions on a large-scale can be costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive if using current low-throughput technologies, such as dye testing or closed-circuit television. Alternatively, smart sensor systems can provide low-cost, high-throughput, and automatic data-driven features for real-time monitoring applications. In this study, we developed ultrahigh-frequency radio-frequency identification (UHF RFID)-based sensors that are flushable and suitable for sanitary and stormwater pipes quick surveys. 3D printed RFID sensors were designed to float at the water-air interface and minimize the water interference to RF signal communications. The optimal detection range was also determined to support the design and installation of the reader in various utility holes. Field trials demonstrated that the UHF RFID system is a low-cost, high-throughput, and robust solution for monitoring blockage, illicit-connection, and water flow in sewer networks.

Radio Frequency IDentification for Meat Supply-Chain Digitalisation

Digitalised supply-chain traceability systems can offer wide prospects both for improving safety as well as enhancing perceived quality. However, the coupling between physical goods and information is often difficult for agri-food items. A solution could be the use of RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) systems. Due to its wide reading range, Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) technology is already widely used in logistics and warehousing, mostly for the identification of batches of items. A growing interest is also emerging in Near Field Communication (NFC), as several smartphones embed an integrated NFC antenna. This paper deals with the automatic identification of meat products at item level, proposing and evaluating the adoption of different RFID technologies. Different UHF and NFC solutions are proposed, which benchmark tag performances in different configurations, including four meat types (fatty beef, lean beef, chicken and pork), by using a specifically designed test bench. As avoiding the application of two different tags could be advantageous, dual frequency devices (UHF and NFC) are also considered. Significant differences in tag performances, which also depend on meat type and packaging, are highlighted. The paper highlights that tag positioning should consider the geometry of the packaging and the relative positioning of tag, meat and reader antenna.

Monitoring of Temperature in Retail Refrigerated Cabinets Applying IoT Over Open-Source Hardware and Software

The control of refrigeration in the food chain is fundamental at all stages, with special emphasis on the retail stage. The implementation of information and communication technologies (IoT, open-source hardware and software, cloud computing, etc.) is representing a revolution in the operational paradigm of food control. This paper presents a low-cost IoT solution, based on free hardware and software, for monitoring the temperature in refrigerated retail cabinets. Specifically, the use of the ESP-8266-Wi-Fi microcontroller with DS18B20 temperature sensors is proposed. The ThingSpeak IoT platform is used to store and process data in the cloud. The solution presented is robust, affordable, and flexible, allowing to extend the scope of supervising other relevant parameters in the operating process (light control, energy efficiency, consumer presence, etc.).