New technology looks to minimize food waste

California’s Data tracking firm Itelleflex has announced technology it promises will lower food wastage and improve fresh food quality.

The CMR-6100 and ZEST Data Service promise a reduction in more than $15 billion industry losses due to storage temperature related food wastage.

Building on temperature monitoring technology introduced a few years ago, Intelleflex now promises wireless tracking of the temperature of fresh foods from the field all the way to the grocery storeroom.

“You can, based on the temperature profile for each pallet, say this package has three days more shelf life than that one,” says Kevin Payne, Intelleflex’s senior director of marketing.  He adds that would improve routing decisions for packing houses and give grocers the information they need when accepting shipments.

Payne goes on to promise advantages like better stock availability, more quality control and tracking systems that can allow potential problems to be identified far more quickly.

While the company doesn’t track bacteria, it promises greater food safety with proper temperature tracking.

“If a grocery store had a complete temperature record of the product from field to the point where they receive it, and they can see it was stored properly every step of the way they’re going to have more confidence in it,” says Payne.  He adds the grocers would also be able to reject products more likely to spoil quickly.