RFID monitors the quality and freshness of food

More and more retailers and food producers are using RFID to identify and maintain the quality of their products. This helps them guarantee the freshness of food and also the authenticity and origin of products such as eggs, cheese and beef.

Fresh food is of immense importance to most people. With RFID, retailers and producers can help consumers know that their fish or beef has been transported at the right temperatures and under proper conditions. This ensures that families are served only the freshest of food each day.

If a problem arises, the grocery shop can use RFID to reconstruct the storage conditions of a particular batch of meat or delivery of fish. If the fish is no longer fresh, the problem can easily be isolated.

Origins and authenticity

The benefits of RFID go beyond tracking storage conditions, however. The technology can also be used to trace the origin of food. Government health officials around the world back the use of RFID for tagging livestock, so that sick animals can be withdrawn from the herd and other infected livestock can be located quickly.

Finally, if you pay a premium price for products such as cheese or chocolates because you want top quality and taste, you will also seek reassurance that the goods are authentic. One study, reported in a trade magazine, revealed that people spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on fake Italian wines. With RFID, this problem and many others may soon be a thing of the past.