Smart seafood packaging to eliminate fishy produce

PACKAGING containing a sensor that changes colour when seafood spoils has been designed to hit supermarket shelves.

The sensor responds to the presence of basic volatiles responsible for the characteristic rotten fish odour.

Containing a pH-sensitive dye, it changes colour from yellow to orange/red telling customers if pre-packed fish products are spoiled.

The device, designed by a team of Dublin based researchers, has already been tested in collaboration with the country’s biggest seafood producer Oceanpath Ltd, Howth, and supermarket Superquinn. Results have shown that the sensor colour change indicates the end of product shelf life, changes in freshness parameters and growth in microbial population.

Although the colour change can be seen with the naked eye, a low-cost portable colour scanner has also been developed to enhance colour change under everyday conditions.

“We are continually looking for ways in which we can monitor freshness and quality and this smart packaging achieves this. We look forward to seeing it roll out across our fish range,” said Emer Barry of Superquinn.

Led by Professor Dermot Diamond, a team of researchers at Dublin’s Adaptive Information Cluster (AIC) worked in collaboration with the Marine Institute, Teagasc-Ashtown Food Research Centre and the Irish Fisheries Board, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) to design the packaging.

Prof Diamond said the device will allow suppliers to rapidly assess the freshness of their stock while offering a further guarantee of freshness to the consumer.

The AIC is a major initiative involving researchers from UCD and DCU and funded by Science Foundation Ireland.

The team is looking for partners to further develop and commercialise smart packaging technologies.