Cornell University food scientists are designing the milk
carton of the future that will give consumers precise "best by" dates
and improve sustainability by reducing food waste.
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), the
New York State Dairy Promotion Order and Chobani have given $1.56 million to
Cornell's Milk Quality Improvement Program to develop milk carton technology
that gives wholesalers, retailers and consumers accurate shelf life
information.
"We can apply digital agriculture tools directly onto
the milk cartons to decrease food waste, since consumers get rid of milk too
fast," said Martin Wiedmann, the Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety
and the project's principal investigator. "We can accomplish this while
improving the sustainability of our food supply."
The best by date imprinted on milk cartons and other foods
indicates when a product is likely at peak quality, but consumers often
interpret the dates as an expiration and discard the milk without realizing
it's still safe to drink, according to FFAR.
FFAR was established by the Agricultural Act of 2014 --
better known as the Farm Bill -- to support agricultural research, foster
collaboration and complement the mission of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Wiedmann said milk cartons of the future will likely have a
QR code that would offer specific information about that milk, such as the
originating farm, the fluid milk processing plant and possible microbial
influences, as well as a separate indicator that records carton temperature and
time. Retailers and consumers could scan both the QR code and the indicator; an
app would then quickly calculate how much longer the milk will last.
Renata Ivanek, associate professor of epidemiology in
Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, will collaborate with Wiedmann on
creating the models that synthesize scientific literature. "It's
predictive modeling to show how much shelf life is left and which interventions
could extend it," said Ivanek. "The model will account for conditions
and processes, from the farm to the processing plant to retail handling and to
homes."
Aaron Adalja, assistant professor of food and beverage
management at the School of Hotel Administration, focuses on applied economics
and policy. For this grant, Adalja will examine the retailer and consumer sides
of improved shelf life dates.
"If a retailer can accurately predict when food is
going to spoil, for example," he said, "this may be an opportunity to
use dynamic pricing to incentivize consumption before the milk spoils."
Said Adalja: "At the same time, we don't want to create
a price incentive for consumers to waste milk, so we need to study economic
interests to understand how precise shelf life dates can affect consumer
behavior and waste."