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Food quality

Role of AI in food quality management

July 6, 2024

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This article has been written by Sathiyabama, pursuing the Training program on Using AI for Business Growth Course from Skill Arbitrage, and edited by Koushik Chittella.

This article has been published by Shashwat Kaushik.

Introduction

In today’s world, the variety of processed foods (for instance, biscuits, chips, bread, meat, and eggs) available is vast. The food industry is blooming with innovations and has been making tremendous breakthroughs, from producing food to customer delivery. The shift in consumer demographics outgrows the supply of products, which then makes the inspection of the food product complex. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) steps in, ensuring the safety of the product with its efficiency and high accuracy.

Food quality management

It is a direct process of controlling the creation, production, handling, and distribution of food products throughout the supply chain. It also verifies that the food products meet established standards of quality, safety, and consistency.

Objective

The objective of food quality management is to achieve food quality and safety by producing and distributing reliable and safe food products to consumers. This includes understanding and adhering to the laws and guidelines set by regulatory bodies. So many food manufacturing companies use certain food quality management systems to certify their products to gain consumer’s trust.

The food quality management system in use are

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control points)
ISO Certified 22000
The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI)
International Food Standard (IFS)
British Retail Consortium
Safe Quality Food (SQF 2000)

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control points)

HACCP is the international standard system procedure opted for by many food factories. It is a management approach that effectively identifies and evaluates the likelihood of potential risks and establishes actions to prevent them without compromising food quality. The creation of an HACCP plan is important as it is used as a guideline for all the processes in the supply chain. The scope of this plan is to segment all the production processes separately and address all kinds of known potential hazards.

Prerequisites to create HACCP Plan

Assemble a HACCP team
Describe the Product and the Process
Identify the Targeted Audience
Construct a flow diagram
On-site confirmation of flow diagram

HACCP Principles

HACCP operates through the following seven principles:

Conducting hazard analysis: Analyse the potential hazards like bacteria, viruses, contaminants, foreign bodies, or additives in the sampling of raw materials.
Establish Critical Control Points (CCP): A critical control point is a point or step in which control needs to be applied in the process to prevent or eliminate food hazards in an effective way. For instance, in the production of biscuits, the biscuits should be cooked for 30 minutes. This baking step is a CCP.
Define Critical Limit: A critical limit is a minimum/maximum value at which biological, physical, & chemical hazards are controlled at each CCP. For instance, in the production of biscuits, the biscuits should be cooked for 30 minutes. The critical limit is 30 minutes. If breached, the biscuits will be burnt.
Monitoring the Procedure: Monitoring all the processes in the supply chain is necessary so that the data are documented to analyse food hazards if there is any deviation.
Establish corrective actions: If there is any known deviation at a CCP, take corrective action as defined in the HACCP Plan. If it is a new one, alert the HACCP team for further action. This can be done by finding the root cause of the hazard. For instance, if the biscuits are burnt, that specific batch of biscuits needs to be discarded.
Verification and Validation Procedures: Verification is a process to verify that the HACCP plan is adequate and working. This may involve regular internal audits and reviews. Validation is evidence that shows the HACCP Plan is controlling the potential food hazards in the supply chain.
Record keeping and documentation: This tracks down all the process and product data, from sampling raw materials to analysing and evaluating the food hazards and actions taken for them, as well as the testing of the final food product, storage, packaging, and shipments. The recordings of all known and new deviations at all CCPs need to be documented for further use.

Experts conduct audits to verify that the food product is in compliance with the regulatory standards so that the food manufacturer gets a licence to sell the food products on the market. The hazard analysis tests are mostly done in a laboratory and require human intervention. All the data is manually entered and stored here. Any human error may result in the brand losing its reputation.

IndiaHACCP Certification

In India, the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) is a statutory body that grants licences to food manufacturers and restaurants to maintain food quality. The licence is required by all the food businesses that operate in India.

Source: Britannia Industries

In the IndiaHACCP scheme, the food manufacturers will get certification from the certified bodies under this scheme. It is based on the best international practices and global standards to ensure internationally acceptable certification. It would provide an alternative to foreign certificates.

Traditional methods vs AI

There are various limitations of traditional methods and benefits of using AI over traditional methods, which can be summarised as follows

Limitations of traditional methods:

Time consuming
Extensive labour
Large expenses
Prone to human error

Benefits of AI over traditional methods:

Speed
Accuracy
Efficiency
Reduced Labour
Cost Effective
Effective Risk Management

Role of AI in enhancing food quality

By integrating AI with HACCP, risk assessment and management will be smooth. AI has a wide range of tools to analyse, predict, detect, and prevent anomalies in the supply chain.

Predictive analysis: AI algorithms can analyse historical data (for instance, food safety reports, temperature, working conditions, speed of machines, and environmental conditions) to predict anomalies and prevent risks in the production process. It helps in risk management.
Real-time monitoring and data analysis: IoT (Internet of Things) with sensors can analyse working and environmental conditions in real time. It analyses the data for any risks, like changes in storage conditions or different temperatures.
Quality control and inspection: Machine vision-based systems can analyse the image of the product to detect contaminants, impurities, and foreign objects. If anything is contaminated, they will alert the team with high accuracy. This reduces the time and labour involved in the traditional method.
Pathogen testing: Machine learning algorithms and biosensors can detect microorganisms like bacteria and viruses in the raw materials or in the production area. These pathogens can spoil the product if they are not removed.
Traceability: Blockchain technology can track food products throughout the supply chain. All the data is collected from the sensors and documented to identify any potential harm.
Stress Testing: AI helps in finding the shelf life of the products by stimulating scenarios at different temperature and moisture levels.
Customer Feedback: AI-powered systems collect the feedback in both online and offline modes and respond to queries and concerns effectively. The data are stored and analysed to find areas for improvement in the quality of the product.
Regulatory Compliance: AI assists agencies to verify the food products are in compliance with the food regulations. Automated systems can analyse the food inspection data and identify any non-compliance issues.

AI makes the job easier by automating systems to increase efficiency, accuracy, and speed. This results in analysing vast amounts of data in seconds, thus reducing hard labour and the cost.

FAQs

What is the supply chain?

It’s the process of the actual production of the food product and its shipments before consumption. It includes the selection of raw materials, the production process, testing, storage, and the final shipment of the product.

What is HACCP?

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a food quality management system with international quality standards to ensure the quality of the product. It will analyse both the process and the product and pinpoint the potential risks that need to be mitigated.

What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence, simply called AI, was invented to perform tasks through the deployment of computer systems that require minimal human interaction to improve efficiency, speed, and accuracy.

What is FSSAI?

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is a statutory body that operates under the Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006. It grants licences to all the food businesses in India.

Conclusion

By leveraging AI, the food industry can detect and mitigate the risks related to food safety, thereby protecting public health and reducing the risks of foodborne diseases. AI enhances risk management through predictive analysis, enabling the industry to boost its production value with quality standards. As AI continues to evolve, its role in food quality management will only become more integral, setting new standards for safety in the food industry.