Intelligent food packaging: The next generation

• Food packaging innovation activities expand toward the domain of intelligent packaging.
• New sensors are developed based on printed electronics, carbon nanotechnology, silicon photonics, and biotechnology.
• Sensor-enabled RFID tags allow remote and non-destructive monitoring.
• Closed-loop recycling of intelligent packaging requires a thoughtful design from the start.

Since the beginning of the current millennium, food packaging innovation activities have gradually expanded toward the development of intelligent packaging. This evolution reflects the emerging need for new and efficient ways to economize on business processes, solve safety and quality issues through the supply chain, and reduce product losses. The general purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of ongoing scientific research, recent technological breakthroughs, and emerging technologies that offer the perspective of developing a next generation of intelligent food packaging systems to sense, detect, or record changes in the product, the package or its environment.