The idea of intelligent labels has been around for several decades, but it has not yet been put into practice on a large scale, says project coordinator Marie Shrestha of the technology transfer centre of the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven (ttz Bremerhaven) in Germany.

IQ-Freshlabel set out to upgrade smart label technology for new applications and to find out why it is not yet widely applied. It builds on the outcomes of its predecessor project, Freshlabel, which developed an initial smart label for fresh chilled foods and showed how its use could help to reduce spoilage and associated losses throughout the food supply chain.

The partners involved in IQ-Freshlabel, which ended in January 2014, adapted this label for use on both chilled and frozen packages. They also developed a label for products wrapped under modified atmosphere — i.e. packages where the air has been replaced by a different blend of gases to prolong the shelf life of the food. This technique is commonly used for perishables such as poultry, fish and cheese.

A cool concept

“The labels we have focused on mostly involve so-called time-temperature indicators (TTIs), which can be based on different technologies. We were working from the principle that the main factors influencing the quality and safety of a packaged product are the time and the temperature,” says Shrestha.

Generally speaking, the lower the temperature, the slower the spoilage, she explains. IQ-Freshlabel’s TTIs change colour as a function of temperature and time since packaging. If the product has been compromised by breaches in the cold chain, or if it has been stocked for longer than the storage temperature would permit, the label will mark the package as low quality and potentially unsafe.

This also means that consumers can be confident about products that are labelled as being in good condition, both in shops and in their homes — an improvement that, according to the researchers, could help to reduce food waste.

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