Wireless EAS Sensor Tags for Volatile Profiling in Food Packages

Abstract

Real-time volatile profiling of packaged food is necessary to estimate shelf life, quality, and freshness of the food products along the supply chain. In this paper, volatile profiling is demonstrated using thin-film coated electronic article surveillance (EAS) compatible sensor tags fabricated on a porous substrate. The thin-film coated tag along with a reference tag without any coatings are placed inside an enclosed chamber and different volumes of volatiles vapors are introduced. The frequency shift between the sensor and the reference tags are monitored for identifying different concertation of volatiles. The tags are fabricated on a porous flexible substrate that enables surface adsorption due to capillary condensation. The wireless and flexible nature of the tags allows easy integration with existing packaging technology for real-time monitoring of food along the supply chain.