Senoptica Technologies, a sensor technology and analytics company, has announced approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Agency (FDA) in the United States to enter the market.
This is significant in that it means Senoptica can kick start its plans for US expansion. Senoptica’s patented sensor technology, which has recently completed trials with a large UK retailer, monitors the oxygen in modified atmosphere (MAP) food packaging enabling food manufacturers to identify faulty goods before they reach retailers’ shelves. The company aims to help supermarkets extend the shelf life of fresh packaged food by up to 40 percent, reducing vast volumes of food waste.
On the back of its FDA approval, Senoptica is set to expand operations in the UK and retail trials of its technology across the United States. Senoptica’s revolutionary solution uses optical sensors created by their patented food-safe ink which is printed inside packaging. This indicates the level of oxygen inside the food packaging, offering real-time insights into the condition of goods inside, predicting spoilage before it happens. For manufacturers it means defective packs of food can immediately be returned to the packing line and repacked, saving time and money across the entire food value chain. For retailers and consumers this saves time and money and could effectively mean the end of best before dates.
Global food waste continues to be a huge problem worldwide. According to figures from The World Counts, roughly one third (1.3 billion tons) of food is wasted per year. In addition, figures from the ReFed, a US national non-profit, show that 91 million tonnes of food waste occurs each year in the US. Food waste is a significant contributor to climate change, with food loss and waste contributing to 8-10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations.
Senoptica hopes to reduce food waste by 11 million tonnes annually, the equivalent of 240 million tonnes of CO2. The company was founded in 2018 by Brendan Rice, Dr Steve Comby and Dr Rachel Evans.
CEO of Senoptica Technologies, Brendan Rice said: “We are delighted to secure FDA approval to position for expansion into the US market. Senoptica is on a mission to use deeptech to increase food supply chain reliability with a view of mitigating food waste in the long term with manufacturers and retail partners. Our technology currently improves the probability of finding failed packs by up to 11,000 times compared to today’s industry standard. With our unique solution, we hope to revolutionise the food supply chain,through helping all in the food supply chain become smarter about food spoilage.”
Header image: Senoptica CEO and Co-founder Brendan Rice.