Single-Use Cooking Data Control for Food Traceability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cooking apparatuses in commercial environments lack control over the reuse of cooking data, leading to inferior food quality and potential food poisoning, and are inadequate for product recall and traceability.
Innovation Solution
A cooking apparatus and method that utilize unique identifiers for each food item to ensure accurate cooking processes, prevent reuse of cooking data, facilitate product recall, and enable traceability through a central communications system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If barcodes or tags are used to store cooking data for food items, then cooking automation is improved, but control over reuse of cooking data is lost leading to food quality degradation and safety issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the cooking data into two separate components: a unique identifier (stored in the barcode/tag) and the actual cooking instructions (stored in the oven's memory). This segmentation prevents reuse because the unique identifier is single-use while separating it from the reusable cooking data format, thus maintaining automation while ensuring food safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary recording of the unique identifier in the oven's memory before executing the cooking process. This preliminary action creates a check that prevents the same barcode from being used again, even if the physical tag is intact, thereby preventing cooking data reuse while maintaining the automated cooking process.
2Productivity
If predefined cooking processes are used for different food items, then cooking efficiency is improved, but the ability to handle recalled or contaminated products is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the unique identifier is recorded in the oven's memory after each cooking cycle. This creates a traceability system that can track which specific food items have been cooked, enabling product recall capabilities while maintaining efficient automated cooking processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a unique identifier as an intermediary between the food item and the cooking process. This identifier acts as a mediator that enables both efficient automated cooking (through barcode scanning) and product traceability (through memory recording), resolving the contradiction between productivity and adaptability.
3Extent of automation
If barcodes are damaged or defaced, then manual intervention is required, but the automated cooking system breaks down
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy of the unique identifier in the oven's memory during the cooking process. This digital record serves as a backup that maintains system functionality even if the physical barcode is damaged, as the recorded identifier can be used for traceability and the cooking data can be retrieved from memory rather than requiring successful barcode scanning.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a cooking control method performed by a cooking apparatus for a food item. The method comprises obtaining a unique identifier and cooking data for the food item, and checking for a record of the unique identifier in a memory of the cooking apparatus. If a record of the unique identifier is located in the memory, then the cooking apparatus will not cook the food item. Otherwise a cooking process based on the cooking data to cook the food item is performed. Accordingly, cooking data for a given instance of a food item can only be used once in order to activate a cooking process performed by the cooking apparatus. The present invention also features product recall as well as the ability to track food item sales via a cooking data communications system.