London, United Kingdom (CU)_ According to estimates, the EU accounts for 173 kg of food waste per person annually, resulting in the emission of 170 million tonnes of CO2. Meat and fish products contribute significantly to this contamination. Jeanette Hvam, CEO of Danish deep tech business AmiNIC, discussed the causes for meat and fish waste. She said, “10 % of all meat and 50 % of all fish produced are wasted due to doubts about their freshness and incorrect expiration predictions by the industry”.
The firm has devised an amazing easy answer to this enormous global problem. Currently, shelf lives are estimated using human perceptions or general microbiological data. AmiNIC created a portable gadget that evaluates the freshness of meat and fish in seconds and provides a more precise expiration date.
The gadget is based on a proprietary nanotechnology solution that utilizes a micro-cantilever as a sensor. It detects the presence of cadaverine, a naturally occurring substance present in rotting animal tissue. Hvam said, “The vibration of the cantilever changes when cadaverine is detected. This change is proportional to the age of the meat or fish”. The gadget calculates the exact expiry date by comparing the readings to expiry-prediction curves stored in a database.
AmiNIC was able to develop and enhance its staff with major competencies as a result of the EU-funded food waste reduction initiative. Therefore, the researchers were able to develop the customized microsensor, considerably enhancing the device’s output signal. Hvam spoke about the project. She said, “We were able to increase sensitivity and resolution, which are essential to achieving the required precision, speed and reliability of the measurements. As a bonus, the project has generated great added value and patentable knowledge that boost our exploitation potential.”
The team has put considerable efforts toward commercializing their technology. Customers from a variety of industries, including restaurants and the food processing industry, evaluated the device prototypes throughout the project. Hvam added, “Many field test users and potential customers show great interest in our solution, and we have sold our first units as pilot sales”.
Applying the solution in meat and fish processing industries has the potential to have a big economic impact while also widely lowering our carbon footprint. Hvam detailed the pollution caused by meat and fish waste. She said, “It is especially detrimental to the environment to waste meat and fish, as their production generates on average seven times more pollution than other food products. A 40 % implementation of our solution in our target segments will potentially reduce our carbon footprint from food waste by 6 %.”
