Product Overview™
 |
 |
| SensorQ™ Smart Sensor Label |
SensorfreshQ™ Freshness Meter |
| |
Click Here to See SensorfreshQ™ In Action |
Food Quality Sensor International offers two new products based on two distinct advanced sensor technologies: colorimetric and electronic. These technologies measure the level of general food-borne bacteria that are responsible for spoilage in meat and poultry foods. The number of bacterial colonies is a function of both time and temperature. The bacterial population increases with time and the rate of growth is affected by temperature. Growth occurs more slowly at refrigerated temperatures than at room temperature. When the number of bacterial colonies reaches 10 million colony forming units per gram (CFU/g), U.S. and international standards define the meat or poultry as spoiled. For this reason, the U.S.D.A. recommends that meat and poultry be stored at refrigerated temperatures and discarded after recommended periods of time (see the table below). Both FQSI technologies correlate to U.S. and international standards of meat and poultry spoilage.
| Product | Recommended Storage Time in Refrigerator (40°F) |
| Hamburger and stew meat | 1-2 days |
| Ground turkey, veal, pork, lamb, and mixture of these | 1-2 days |
| Fresh beef, veal, lamb, or pork steaks | 3-5 days |
| Fresh beef, veal, lamb, or pork chops | 3-5 days |
| Fresh beef, veal, lamb, or pork roasts | 3-5 days |
| Fresh beef, veal, lamb, or pork variety meats (tongue, liver, heart, kidneys, etc.) |
1-2 days |
| Fresh whole chicken or turkey | 1-2 days |
| Fresh chicken or turkey pieces | 1-2 days |
| Fresh chicken or turkey giblets | 1-2 days |
Products
FQSI's patent pending, proprietary and cost effective colorimetric technology product, SensorQ™, is totally unique in that it tells the processor, the retailer, and the consumer about the freshness of meat or poultry within a wrapped and sealed package. SensorQ™ works whether the meat or poultry is refrigerated or at ambient temperature. It provides a graphic indication of the product's freshness at all points in the distribution channel. There is no other product on the market that directly and rapidly measures food spoilage bacteriology. Unlike other products that measure time and temperature as an indication of food spoilage, SensorQ™ is an absolute measurement of the level of freshness within the package.
The SensorQ™ product is a stick-on sensor label that is applied by the meat packer, distributor, or grocer to the inside of wrapped fresh meat and poultry packages and detects food-borne bacteriological levels right through the wrap. When the inside of the quality "Q" on the label is tangerine orange, the product is fresh. When the bacteria count in the package builds to the targeted CFU/g, the tangerine orange turns to tan, then olive green (as indicated by the smaller reference Q) to show that the product is no longer fresh.
FQSI's patent pending and proprietary electronic product, SensorfreshQ™, is a revolutionary new and inexpensive electronic nose that directly and accurately measures the bacteriological activity in fresh meat and poultry. SensorfreshQ™ provides the consumer, the food service operator, the regulatory inspector, and the food processor with an inexpensive and rapid measurement of meat and poultry freshness.
SensorfreshQ™ is a handheld, battery operated meter that works with a multi-use disposable cartridge, the QCard™, that plugs directly into the handheld unit. The user friendly and rapid 1-2-3 step operation and intuitive green, yellow, and red LED output makes measuring freshness a cinch.
Click Here to See SensorfreshQ™ In Action
To use SensorfreshQ™:
1) Select the Meat or Poultry Setting:
Hold SensorfreshQ™ away from the meat or poultry. Press the Q Button once for poultry (Yellow Light) or twice for meat (Red Light).
 |
Poultry |
 |
Beef, Pork, or Other Meat |
2) Run the Test:
Peel back the uncooked meat or poultry packaging and hold the SensorfreshQ™ so that the nose is about half an inch above the surface of the meat or poultry. Press the Q Button again.
3) Get the Result:
Holding SensorfreshQ™ away from the meat or poultry, press the Q Button one more time and...
SensorfreshQ™ lights up Green, Yellow, or Red to give you the answer!
 |
Fresh! |
|
Still Fresh! (Eat Soon) |
|
Freshness Not Assured |
After about eight seconds, SensorfreshQ™ will automatically turn itself off.
There is no other product on the market that performs this function as inexpensively and as rapidly. The only alternative to using SensorfreshQ™ is to physically take samples of the meat or poultry and then perform a bacteriological analysis, which requires a minimum of 48 hours and the services of a trained microbiologist in a controlled-environment bacteriological laboratory.