Portable and miniature sensors in supply chain for food authentication: a review

Abstract

Food fraud, a pervasive issue in the global food industry, poses significant challenges to consumer health, trust, and economic stability, costing an estimated $10–15 billion annually. Therefore, there is a rising demand for developing portable and miniature sensors that facilitate food authentication throughout the supply chain. This review explores the recent advancements and applications of portable and miniature sensors, including portable/miniature near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, e-nose and colorimetric sensors based on nanozyme for food authentication within the supply chain. After briefly presenting the architecture and mechanism, this review discusses the application of these portable and miniature sensors in food authentication, addressing the challenges and opportunities in integrating and deploying these sensors to ensure authenticity. This review reveals the enhanced utility of portable/miniature NIR spectroscopy, e-nose, and nanozyme-based colorimetric sensors in ensuring food authenticity and enabling informed decision-making throughout the food supply chain.

Keywords:

• Food fraud
• supply chain integrity
• handheld sensors
• smartphone-driven devices

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Hong-Ju He would like to acknowledge the support from the Henan Province Key Science and Technology Project (No. 221100110500).