British crop quality monitoring specialist Martin Lishman has launched a damage prevention device designed to help solve the worldwide problem of food waste. This is a shock and temperature monitor which can aid the food industry reduce the damage to fresh produce during handling or transportation.

Called ImpacTrack, the monitoring and logging system records movement and temperature is available with a range of shells which match the dimensions of fresh produce including potatoes, but also onions, apples, eggs, and avocados.

By recording and reporting on the journey of fresh produce through handling, packing and transport processes, food producers and haulers will be able to make informed modifications to their processes to reduce the amount of food which is regularly wasted because of damage such as bruising.

“Fresh produce is delicate and any knocks and bumps and dramatic changes in temperature can result in it being rejected at several stages from field to fork,” said Gavin Lishman, managing director of Martin Lishman. “ImpacTrack can be used to monitor any item as it travels down the production line. Results are transmitted in real-time using Bluetooth to the ML Sensing iOS/Android app, to help identify damage sources and improve quality control,” further explained Lishman.