Virtualization and digital twins of the food supply chain for enhanced food safety

Meeting food safety requirements without jeopardizing quality attributes or sustainability involves adopting a holistic perspective of food products, their manufacturing processes and their storage and distribution practices. The virtualization of the food supply chain offers opportunities to evaluate, simulate, and predict challenges and mishaps potentially contributing to present and future food safety risks. Food systems virtualization poses several requirements: (1) a comprehensive framework composed of instrumental, digital, and computational methods to evaluate internal and external factors that impact food safety; (2) nondestructive and real-time sensing methods, such as spectroscopic-based techniques, to facilitate mapping and tracking food safety and quality indicators; (3) a dynamic platform supported by the Internet of Things (IoT) interconnectivity to integrate information, perform online data analysis and exchange information on product history, outbreaks, exposure to risky situations, etc.; and (4) comprehensive and complementary mathematical modeling techniques (including but not limited to chemical reactions and microbial inactivation and growth kinetics) based on extensive data sets to make realistic simulations and predictions possible. Despite current limitations in data integration and technical skills for virtualization to reach its full potential, its increasing adoption as an interactive and dynamic tool for food systems evaluation can improve resource utilization and rational design of products, processes and logistics for enhanced food safety. Virtualization offers affordable and reliable options to assist stakeholders in decision-making and personnel training. This chapter focuses on definitions and requirements for developing and applying virtual food systems, including digital twins, and their role and future trends in enhancing food safety.