Smart screening, detection, warning, and control of 3R food hazards and their potential social science impacts

Abstract

Background

The 3R foods—"ready-to-cook,” “ready-to-eat,” and “ready-to-heat"—are gaining popularity. Supporters believe that this type of food is convenient and safe. However, opponents refute that safety risks in 3R foods are still of concern. Therefore, there is significant controversy surrounding this issue. Furthermore, the present 3R food safety system is not sufficiently smart to handle the problems in data processing, storage, and collecting. Food safety may be improved by incorporating advanced intelligent technology into the 3R food-related system.

Scope and approach

The smart screening, detection, warning, and control components of the 3R food safety system were systematically divided in this review. Additionally, the intelligent algorithms and internal connections of each section were the focus of this work. Consumer behavior, governmental regulations, and economic impacts of intelligent 3R food technology were also emphasized.

Key findings and conclusions

The typical risks associated with 3R food included thermal reaction-related hazards, thermotolerant Bacillus, and migrating packaging materials. Despite their tight connections, smart screening, detection, warning, and control each possessed distinct emphasis. In this sense, relatively abundant and limited 3R food data were handled with feature selection and generative adversarial networks, respectively. Notably, the development of smart technology in 3R food safety might face more significant obstacles from potential social science aspects than from technological ones.