Executives ... FYI.

Portable inspection devices that determine food safety and quality are under development. For instance, researchers have succeeded with developing high-speed optical technology that inspects wheat and other grains, detecting protein content as well as mold. Others are using laser beams to judge taste, firmness and other quality aspects of fresh produce.

Investigators are focusing their attention on apples, developing a system that could be used for other fresh produce as well. It can detect contaminants on the apple surface, such as fecal matter. Because these systems use optically filtered light and optoelectronics to "see," they are called machine vision or optical sensing systems. At the heart of these systems is a digital multispectral camera that can take photos at different wavelengths simultaneously and can even detect light invisible to the naked eye. The systems include the latest, fastest cameras of this type.

All the systems rely on two or three wavelengths of light chosen to best see special features. Machine vision nicely supports human inspection because its instruments can image every single fruit, vegetable, grain kernel, or meat or poultry product that speeds along a processing line. It also gives inspectors an extra pair of eyes for scanning machinery and processing areas for contamination that is invisible to the naked eye.

Contact: Yud-Ren Chen, USDA-ARS Instrumentation and Sensing Laboratory, Building 303, 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-2350. Phone: 301-504-8450. Fax: 301-504-9466. Email: cheny@ba.ars.usda.gov.