A Battery Free RFID Sensor for Quality Detection of Food Products

In this paper, we propose the use of passive UHF RFID tags as a sensor in order to detect the quality of food products. The sensor RFID tag includes plural pairs of antenna/chip where each pair of antenna/chip is designed to operate over a range of the permittivity value of the food. Knowing the variation of the permittivity of food over time (due to aging), we can detect when the food becomes contaminated with the measurement of each pair's read-range. The ultimate goal of this study is to develop a wireless sensor based on low-cost UHF RFID passive tags that can detect the quality of a food product. The experimental and simulation results have shown the potential of this technique for real-world applications of food traceability. In addition, the results of this work allow considering the use of this approach for medical applications in real- world. As we known, the permittivity of human muscle and tissue is very close to the permittivity of meat such as pork or beef. Sensitivity study should be conducted in order to better optimize the sensor and predict its performance.