Paper-based microfluidics for food safety and quality analysis

Background: The screening of biological hazards, chemical contaminants and allergens in food products is a major concern of food industry since they can cause serious illnesses and even lead to death. Therefore, there is a significant interest in developing low-cost, robust, and rapid detection methods for food safety and quality analysis. Conventional methods provide accurate analytical characteristics, but require well-equipped laboratories, trained personnel, costly reagents, and complicated sample preparation procedures prior to the detection in order to obtain reliable results. Hence, they are not always ideal for on-site food surveillance. Scope and approach: This paper discusses the fundamentals of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (mu PADs) and reviews the recent progress in their usage for screening biological hazards, harmful chemical residues, and allergens in food products to systematically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this technology. It then covers future trends and useful strategies that could be employed in mu PADs design and fabrication procedures to address the critical challenges in equipment-free food analysis. Key findings and conclusions: mu PADs offer promising avenues to revolutionize food safety and quality analysis with merits of equipment-free sample preparation and detection at low-cost. Despite the advancement in the microfluidic technology, the manufacturing of user-friendly sample-to-answer mu PADs still requires intensive research studies to be employed for robust and sensitive food safety and quality analysis.

Automated summary

The paper discusses the fundamentals of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (mu PADs) and reviews the recent progress in their usage for screening biological hazards, harmful chemical residues, and allergens in food products. It points out the potential of mu PADs to revolutionize food safety and quality analysis with equipment-free sample preparation and detection at low cost, but also highlights the need for further research in manufacturing user-friendly sample-to-answer mu PADs for robust and sensitive food safety and quality analysis.