Chemometric Brain and the Centro TecnológicoNacional de la Conserva y Alimentación (CTNC), collaborate in the Digfood project for the digitization and improvement of quality control in the agri-food industry.

The objective of this collaboration is to implement Chemometric Brain's software in the quality control systems of the companies participating in the project, which is part of theRural Development Program of the Region of Murcia (Spain).

The aim is to guarantee absolute control of quality, traceability and food safety and to improve the sustainability of the agri-food sector. Exhaustive and efficient quality control reduces the losses caused by product recalls due to nonconformities or fraud.

Chemometric Brain andCTNC will work with technical partners Agromil, Martinez Nieto, Fruit Tech Natural and Postres Reina to develop quantitative and qualitative models from more than 500 food samples, ingredients and blends.

The creation of these models allows faster and more efficient validation of new samples of the same ingredients or products with Chemometric Brain software. This provides immediate results and reduces the number of destructive analyses that are currently performed in production processes.

Pablo Flores, director of the CTNC, explains that "in a current context of food fraud, the digitization of quality controls is key for companies to manage information on their production batches and to be able to make decisions more quickly".

And he adds: "At the CTNC we are aware of the importance of technology transfer to the industry, and we work closely with companies to provide solutions to their current challenges, such as digitization for traceability, quality control and food safety".

NIR technology for more efficient quality control

Chemometric Brain is a quality control software based on Near Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy, which studies the interaction between matter and light. By applying NIR spectroscopy to any food product, a spectrum or chemical fingerprint of the sample is obtained. Through mathematical processing and data analysis of the spectra it is possible to predict physicochemical properties, classify the quality and origin of the samples, detect non-conformities and fraud.

Jacob Kristensen, VicePresident of Digital Quality at Chemometric Brain, states: "The food industry is facing new challenges in global supply chains that require different solutions. NIR technology is today's most effective and accessible tool, and platform collaboration is essential to make solutions available for the entire food industry and ultimately to benefit consumers”.

Chemometric Brain develops both quantitative analysis, which determines the physico-chemical properties of the product without the need for a laboratory, and qualitative analysis, which compares new samples against a digital specification of a product based on "good" samples, stored in the cloud.

This quality control system can be carried out within each company, is more efficient, faster and less costly than sending samples to external laboratories and does not require specialized technicians or large investments.

Moreover, as opposed to targeted analysis, which is susceptible to specific frauds or variations in properties that have not been studied, the global control of a sample makes it possible to detect any change in the sample.

As a result, food companies can control all incoming raw materials and final products throughout the entire production process.

This facilitates control and certification of suppliers and immediate authentication of raw materials. And it quickly and easily ensures quality and traceability throughout the entire supply chain.

DIGFOOD - Project funded within the aid to operations for the "Support for the creation and operation of operational groups of the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability", corresponding to the measure 16.1 of the Rural Development Program of the Region of Murcia 2014-2020. 4th Call for the year 2021.

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