testing

Recent innovations to improve product traceability and food safety testing

Antifraud solutions. Demand has increased for anticounterfeit packaging, which consists of smart packaging such as radio-frequency identification technology, near field communications, and holograms to enhance food security. Radio-frequency identification tags can be used by companies to track food products from the factory to the supermarket.

Food diagnostic technology. Food safety testing services cover a wide range of testing methods for different strains of pathogens. For instance, polymerase-chain-reaction testing identifies major pathogens such as E. coli. Service providers can also check for allergens on behalf of food companies. These technologies are used mainly in the European union and north America. Antibacterial proteins. Certain proteins have antibacterial properties that neutralize produced food that is prone to infection. Such applications can target specific strains of bacteria and improve food safety at the mass market level. AvidBiotics is currently developing purocin, which has food safety applications including against salmonella.

Mobile-based system for tracking products. The Shouguang Municipal Bureau of Agriculture in China has created a quality tracing system for vegetables, which farmers can use for free. using a mobile app to scan the quick response or QR code, customers can access information such as cultivation base, sampling time, results of pesticide concentration, test planting (pruning, splitting, and watering), harvest, and sales transaction data (ADB 2018).

Sensors, such as near-infrared spectrometers and hyperspectral imaging. These sensors are increasingly being used to conduct nondestructive analysis of food. This application combines spectroscopy with computer vision. Images are analyzed via the cloud using machine learning and imaging-processing algorithms to interpret the data, resulting in actionable information such as quality, safety, and authenticity of food. The information generated from scanning technologies can determine the freshness of food and could replace the need for sell-by and use-by dates. If sensing technologies could reach 30–50 percent of the consumers in developed markets, domestic food waste could decline by 10–20 million tons by 2030. At present, sensors are not used on a large scale (WEF 2018).

Alternative packaging

The food and beverage packaging industry is undergoing a revolution to respond to consumers’ and society’s needs. Apart from catching the eye of consumers, packaging is expected to protect the product, prolong the shelf-life of fresh produce (for example, through use of modified atmosphere packaging), and satisfy various requirements for traceability, sustainability, and reduction in food loss and waste (FlW) (see box 5.10). Over the years, plastic use in food and beverage has increased in parallel with urbanization and consumer demand for convenience, food safety, freshness, and e-commerce (World Bank 2019a). Consumer concern about plastics has grown considerably, however. Although using recyclable materials for packaging is one way to address sustainability concerns, some companies ensure their packaging is made from biodegradable or compostable materials11 (Burrellon 2019; European Bioplastics 2018; Kemira 2020). Advanced technologies, such as ultrasonic sealing, can also be used to minimize seal sizes, which in turn reduces material use. Today, alternatives to plastic packaging (for example, fiber and plant-based materials) and bioplastics12 (for example, bio-based, biodegradables, and fiber composites) are already in use or in various stages of development in many high-income countries (HICs) (European Bioplastics 2018; Kemira 2020; Korhonen, Koskivaara, and Toppinen, n.d).

In addition, a substantial increase is expected in edible packaging made of materials such as rice paper, seaweed, or potato. packaging can also offer an interactive experience for consumers; interactive augmented-reality packaging has grown 120 percent in recent years. Interest in transparency extends into food packaging not only in the information provided on the package but also in the material used. The amount of clear packaging made from translucent materials has increased recently, allowing consumers to see exactly what they are purchasing in the product. With the expansion of e-commerce, packaging innovation should also include lighter-weight yet durable elements that stand up to shipping demands (Burrellon 2019; Keating 2019). The cost and quality features (for example, durability, resistance to temperature changes, moisture retention, recycling) along with sustainability are important areas for continued effort and innovation.

Reducing food loss and waste

Reducing FlW is an integral part of improving food security, enhancing resource use, and reducing GHG emissions (arising from logistics, energy use, and wastelands). Total FlW is estimated to be about $1 trillion in 2016, of which roughly $680 billion is lost in HICs. About 40 percent of this FlW occurs at the retail and consumer levels. About $310 billion worth of FlW occurs in developing low- and middle-income countries, where more than 40 percent of FlW occurs at the postharvest and processing levels (FAO 2017). In China alone, more than $32 billion worth of food was thrown away in 2013 (Zhou 2013).13 Most innovation in FlW takes place in HICs. In East Asia, Japan, Korea, and Singapore as well as China (for example, the Clean plate Campaign) and Malaysia have embraced FlW solutions (Austrade 2019; Ecosperity 2018a). FlW has also received considerable international attention; several initiatives on FlW have been launched.14

FlW may be reduced through individual innovations as well as through regional and system-level approaches. FlW is prominent at different points along the farm-to-fork continuum. Research and weather systems applications, including biotechnology-based crop breeding and e-weather services, together with cold storage solutions can help address farm-level production, harvest, and postharvest-related losses (see the section titled “The transformative role of technology in agricultural productivity” earlier in this chapter). Digital solutions that help match consumer demand with supply (for example, e-commerce, discussed later in this section), new technologies such as smart labels and sensors for analysis of food (box 5.10), and innovations that extend the shelf-life of fresh products (such as biotechnology-based crop breeding and controlled atmosphere packages) may also reduce retail- and consumer-level FlW. Data systems that better manage production and logistics processes can contribute to reduced FlW. For crops that cross borders, electronic customs processes and efficient trade corridor systems and transport connectivity initiatives, such as the Greater Mekong Sub-Region project and the East ASEAn (Association of Southeast Asian nations) Growth Area, which has food as one of its six strategic pillars, can smooth logistics (Green 2018).

The concept of the circular economy has become increasingly important in the design of production-consumption systems that limit or terminate waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems (EMF, n.d.). In the context of the agri-food system, food waste may be turned into, for example, animal feed, biogas, fertilizers, and building materials.