University Takes a Fresh Approach to RFID
The University of Florida's Center for Food Distribution and Retailing is finding ways to make RFID tags work on produce shipments and keep perishable food from spoiling.
By Jonathan Collins
Aug. 8, 2005—When Jean-Pierre Emond, an associate professor of packaging science at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), was first told about RFID, he immediately comprehended the extraordinary impact the technology could have on the fresh food supply chain.
"I felt like I was being handed the keys to a Ferrari," he says. "Here was this wonderful technology capable of doing so much." But when he looked into it a little more, he says, he discovered a snag. "Nobody told me that the Ferrari wouldn't start. There was no way to guarantee reads from the RFID tags with food products."
While many industries are faced with finding a way to use RFID effectively and reliably, the tagging of fresh food raises particular problems for RFID. Radio frequency waves are absorbed by water, and most perishable foods such as meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy products have high water content. In fact, on average, produce is around 90 percent water. Even so, Edmond and his team have found ways to work with those technology limitations and turn them to the fresh-food industry’s advantage.
Aug. 8, 2005—When Jean-Pierre Emond, an associate professor of packaging science at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), was first told about RFID, he immediately comprehended the extraordinary impact the technology could have on the fresh food supply chain.
"I felt like I was being handed the keys to a Ferrari," he says. "Here was this wonderful technology capable of doing so much." But when he looked into it a little more, he says, he discovered a snag. "Nobody told me that the Ferrari wouldn't start. There was no way to guarantee reads from the RFID tags with food products."
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| Testing tags on plastic crates used for shipping perishable food. |
While many industries are faced with finding a way to use RFID effectively and reliably, the tagging of fresh food raises particular problems for RFID. Radio frequency waves are absorbed by water, and most perishable foods such as meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy products have high water content. In fact, on average, produce is around 90 percent water. Even so, Edmond and his team have found ways to work with those technology limitations and turn them to the fresh-food industry’s advantage.
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