Improving the safety of medicine storage and ensuring proper conditions for food warehousing are just some of the benefits of using sensory labels, a technology currently being developed by researchers led by Dr. Bartłomiej Potaniec from the Advanced Materials Synthesis Group from Łukasiewicz – PORT (AdMat Group – team Leader: Dr. hab. Joanna Cybińska). The project team also includes Dr. Franz Steppeler, Weronika Zając, Dr. Łukasz Duda, and Maria Zdończyk.
The project, titled Dyes in Innovative Sensory Labels for Monitoring Storage Conditions (SensiMat), received funding of one million PLN under the Science for Society II program, enabling the continuation of research previously conducted within the AdMat Group. The solution proposed by Dr. Potaniec is designed to be simple and cost-effective, making broad application a real possibility.
– Between 10% and 20% of food is discarded due to expired best-before dates – says Dr. Potaniec. – We hope our labels will help reduce such waste. Stickers, tags, or printed labels will provide information about storage conditions – temperature, humidity, and time, allowing consumers to better assess whether a product is still safe to use. – The labels incorporate thermochromic dyes, whose safety for human use has been confirmed.
Discussions are also underway with pharmaceutical companies interested in adopting the technology. Proper storage of medications, such as insulin or vaccines, is critical for patient health, particularly since the supply chain is often long and exposed to varying conditions.
