Current media reports about "rotten meat" are making consumers insecure and state food quality control agencies appear unreliable. An innovative laser application could remedy this situation. A group of experts is currently developing a procedure, which analyzes and documents the freshness of meat using laser light.

"FreshScan" is the name of the joint project of the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM), the Ferdinand-Braun Institute for Microwave Engineering (FBH), the Federal German Research Institute for Nutrition and Foodstuffs (BfEL), the Leibniz Institute for Agrotechnology Potsdam-Bornim (ATB) and the Technical University of Berlin. The Federal German Research Ministry is subsidizing it with approximately three million euros.

The objective of "FreshScan" to development a mobile and easy-to-use "scanner", with which the freshness of meat can be recorded directly as well as a an "intelligent RFID label" and an optical manual detector for complete documenting and monitoring of the complete process chain from slaughtering to sale to consumers.

The "fresh scanner" works using laser light, which is scattered in a different range and reflected depending on the meat condition. Raman spectroscopy is used in the scan technique, which shows very selectively how the light is scattered in the internal structure of meat. The especially stable diode lasers required for this are currently being developed at the Ferdinand-Braun Institute for Microwave Engineering in Berlin, which is involved in the project. Measurement should even be possible through packaging foil and detect whether the meat has already been frozen once.

The optic sensor technology data are recorded using the scanner and evaluated immediately. This can make it possible, for example, for retailers to check the quality of delivered goods once more before accepting them.

But the checks should already be made at the producers'; an intelligent RFID label could document the condition of the meat from slaughtering until sale. Using an optical manual detector, the current condition of the meat is recorded and written on the RFID chip in the label. This would make it possible to conduct continual temperature measurements and recording, so that any interruption in the cooling chain is documented.

In the long term, the researchers want to develop the monitor methods further, so that they can also be used for other foodstuffs, e.g., milk, fruit and vegetables. Maybe consumers will even then have the chance to check the freshness of their purchases before taking them to the checkout counter.