SafetySpect technology was presented under invitation as a featured corporate speaker at the annual Food Defense and Protection Institute (FDPI) conference. The presentation title is “SafetySpect: A Multimode, Hyperspectral Imaging Approach to Food Safety and Defense”. FDPI, operating under a US Department of Homeland Security charter, is based in Minneapolis at the U. of Minnesota for maximum participation among the nation’s largest Ag sector businesses headquartered nearby.

https://foodprotection.umn.edu

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates a high incidence of foodborne illness in the US: 3,000 deaths, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 48 million illnesses annually. The most common foodborne illnesses are caused by noroviruses and by the bacteria Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, E. coli and Campylobacter. Optical imaging could be used in real time at critical control points of food processing to inspect for potential contaminants of the supply of meats, produce, and grains. In this presentation, we will discuss the fundamentals of hyperspectral imaging for food quality and contamination analysis, from principles to instrumentation and image processing methods, and the competitive advantages of such imaging approaches to food safety.