Strategic detection of food contaminants using nanoparticle-based paper sensors

Abstract

Food is necessary for survival, and contamination can shorten humans' lives on Earth in all dimensions. Real-time screening of food pollutants, such as toxins, infectious agents, and chemical contaminants, is in high demand today. Thus, a cost-effective and ecologically benign technology must be developed to detect food contamination in a rapid fashion. Nanoparticle (NP)-based paper sensors are one of the most important alternatives to traditional methods because these are simple, inexpensive, highly selective, and sensitive tools. This article provides an overview of NP-based paper sensor techniques for detecting toxic food contaminants.