From Visual Spectrum to Millimeter Wave: A Broad Spectrum of Solutions for Food Inspection

The consequences of food adulteration can be far reaching. In the past, inexpensive adulterants were used to inflate different products, leading to severe health issues. Contamination of food has many causes and can be physical (plant stems in tea), chemical (melamine in infant formula), or biological (bacterial contamination). Employing suitable sensor systems along the production process is a requirement for food safety. In this article, different approaches to food inspection are illustrated, and exemplary scenarios outline the potential of different sensor systems along the spectrum.