Food Packaging Serialization via Cellular Data Clearing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current food tracking systems for fresh produce are inadequate in precisely identifying and isolating potentially contaminated products, often leading to costly recalls and inefficiencies in tracing the source of contamination, which poses health risks and financial burdens on distributors.
Innovation Solution
A low-cost food tracking system utilizing the existing cellular telephone infrastructure to encode and track food products from packaging to harvesting, allowing for real-time recording of origin information, including location, time, and identity, enabling rapid identification of contaminated sources through a data-clearing center.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional food tracking systems are used, then basic shipping records can be maintained, but the system cannot precisely identify and isolate potentially contaminated produce, leading to costly recalls and inefficiencies
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the food distribution chain into distinct traceable units (individual produce packages, containers, trucks, farms) and assigns unique identifiers to each segment. This allows precise tracking of contamination to specific segments without requiring complex system-wide monitoring, resolving the contradiction between precision and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a data-clearing center as an intermediary that collects, stores, and processes tracking information from various points in the distribution chain. This intermediary system consolidates data from multiple sources (packages, containers, vehicles, farms) into a centralized database, enabling precise contamination identification without requiring each individual component to be overly complex.
2Reliability
If the entire inventory of a distributor is recalled to ensure safety, then consumer health is protected, but the cost to distributors becomes very high and productive time is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables segmentation of the recall scope by tracking contamination to specific produce packages, containers, trucks, and farms. Instead of recalling entire distributor inventory, only the affected segments need to be identified and recalled, maintaining food safety while minimizing productivity loss and economic damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides real-time feedback mechanisms through the data-clearing center that monitors and tracks the movement and location of food products. This feedback capability allows rapid detection of contamination and immediate targeting of recall efforts to specific affected segments, reducing both the scope of recalls and the time required for distribution operations.
3Loss of information
If back-tracing shipping records is performed to identify contamination source, then the source can be located, but the process is time consuming and records may lack sufficient information
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-assigning unique identifiers to produce packages, containers, trucks, and farms before the distribution chain begins. Tracking information is recorded at each stage as products move through the system, so that when contamination is detected, the complete trace history is already documented and immediately available, eliminating time-consuming back-tracing and ensuring complete origin information.
4Measurement precision
If detailed tracking of each produce package is implemented, then precise contamination source identification is achieved, but the system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple tracking functions into a single integrated system. The data-clearing center consolidates information from produce packages, containers, trucks, and farms into one centralized database. This merging approach achieves precise source identification through comprehensive tracking while avoiding the complexity of separate, redundant tracking systems for each component.
Data Source
AI summary
A tracking system for food products includes labeled food product packages and labeled containers for transporting the labeled packages to harvest sites. A data-clearing center receives mobile phone communications from the harvest sites for uploading the container codes. Ancillary information collected from the mobile phone communications including the time, date, location, and phone identification is associated with the container codes for linking the labeled food product packages to details of their harvest.