Chill-On Develops Prototype RFID-Enabled Time-Temperature Indicator

According to Lohmann, project members are working to determine which types of TTIs and RFID tags work best together. Since the component will be used in sub-zero temperatures, the battery for active RFID tags is being optimized.

The RFID-focused research and integration work of Chill-on is being led by two of the consortium's 27 partners: ActValue Consulting, an Italian technology and solutions provider, and Freshpoint, a Swiss TTI developer. The total budget for the four-year project, which began in 2006, is €15.6 million ($22.8 million), including €10.1 million ($14.8 million) from the European Commission.

Partners are still in the beginning stages of designing the system, though Lohmann says the final version will most likely include RFID interrogators mounted inside the backs of trucks or ships. The tag on a pallet of fish, for example, would report temperature information at regular intervals. The readers would transmit all information collected—that is, the temperature data and the pallet tag's unique ID—via GSM and the Internet, to a database run by the logistics partner. The database will include additional information, such as a method for performing microbiological analysis of the transported food. Based on the time and temperature information collected via RFID, for instance, the system could calculate the fish's remaining shelf life.

Lohmann says the TTI-RFID tags the group is trying to develop will most likely employ passive tags operating at 13.56 MHz, though initial tests might utilize a few RFID tags that operate at 2.45 GHz. "RFID helps to speed up this entire process," Lohmann says. "You have the opportunity to monitor food, not just check it periodically. Monitoring can be done at any time."

The partners are not required to develop a commercial product as a result of the project. Still, since the project members are in business to make money, they are eager to produce something that can be sold, Lohmann says, adding, "The first goal is to show what is possible, and to help develop standards."

The mission of the Chill-On project was specified by the European Union as part of the Framework 6 Research Program, and TTZ offered the winning proposal. The world's second largest market for frozen and chilled products (behind the United States), the European Union initiated the research due to concerns regarding food safety and the lack of an integrated solution for the cold chain, particularly for cross-border shipments. Some 70 percent of food produced in the European Union is traded across its internal borders.