• Innovative meat packaging utilizes carbon dot nanotechnology to detect putrescine levels, providing a real-time visual indicator of food spoilage through color-changing fluorescence.
• By aligning with Total Volatile Basic Nitrogen (TVB-N) biomarkers, the integrated biosensors work alongside a smartphone app to accurately quantify meat freshness and reduce global food waste.

Obviously, eating spoiled meat is bad. But it isn’t always obvious when meat has gone rancid. The sniff test goes a long way, but there are instances when meat is already spoiled without causing enough of a stink.

Bad meat doesn’t just taste awful; it can cause illness and even death. According to the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO), one-in-ten people, or 600 million, get sick from eating spoiled or contaminated food, and 420,000 folks die annually. Unsafe food can cause over 200 different kinds of illnesses, ranging from diarrhea to cancer.