Shipping to shopping, AI is making food safe

AI's application in food and beverage is a market worth $9.68 bn and it is expected to reach $48.99 bn by 2029

Concerns about food safety rise periodically as more information about the impact of chemicals is revealed. Food is at risk of contamination, from the time of farming to processing, shipping, storage and delivery at retail. 

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has helped food producers respond to rising concerns about what consumers eat. 

The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has been supporting the use of technology for safer consumption. “The ultimate goal is to have end-to-end traceability throughout the food system, with firms voluntarily adopting tracing technologies. Harmonising tracing activities to support interoperability is a priority, as is finding solutions that are achievable for companies of all sizes,” says the FDA. “Under the New Era of Smarter Food Safety one of FDA’s goals is to encourage stakeholders, including technology providers, public health advocates, entrepreneurs, and innovators from all disciplines to develop traceability hardware, software, or data analytics platforms that are low-cost or no-cost to the end user.”

The FDA’s approach has an impact not just for domestic producers in the US, but also for global companies that export to North America. 

The food industry depends on bio-surveillance that uses AI-based sensors in farms to detect harmful chemicals in the soil. “Bio-surveillance is a systematic process to survey the environment or location of interest for bacteria, fungi, viruses, or other biological entities that might cause disease in people, animals, or plants in support of detection and identification efforts and corresponding public health or safety,” according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the US government.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is promoting the use of blockchain, AI and machine learning to ensure safety. 

The global food industry is increasingly investing in emerging technologies after being challenged by regulators over the years. The market size of international food safety testing was worth $22.6 billion in 2023 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8 per cent between 2024 and 2030, according to Grand View Research, a business consulting firm. “A major factor propelling market growth is the rising prevalence of food-borne illnesses, enhanced consumer awareness regarding food safety, implementation of stringent food safety regulations, and rising consumer demand for convenience and packaged food items,” says Grand View. 

“AI has gained prominence over the last few years, with many companies actively investing in exploring the technology potential in the industry. This emerging AI technology is helping F&B (food and beverage) companies with supply chain management through logistics, predictive analytics, and transparency,” says a separate report by Mordor Intelligence.

The Mordor report says that AI’s application in the F&B industry is a market worth $9.68 billion now and it is expected to reach $48.99 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 38.30 per cent.

AI feeds on the information generated by the internet of things (IoT) deployed across supply chains in the food industry. “IoT in food processing enables food companies to gain improved levels of traceability, food safety, and accountability across the whole supply chain. Moreover, organisations may monitor food safety data points by using real-time temperature tracking sensors, ensuring active cold chain management,” says an assessment by Emergen Research. 

Managing supply chains is critical for the food industry. From farms to processing to shipping and shopping, companies need to be alert and informed all the time. The challenge is in ensuring safety: Not just in their own products but also ingredients sourced from others. This implies that large food companies have to be integrated with their suppliers for monitoring quality and safety.  

Industry and regulators will also need common technology standards for food safety.