How light can transform food safety | Lien Smeesters | TEDxVUB

Light-based technologies may offer a way to tell whether food is still fresh. In this TEDxVUB talk, photonics researcher Lien Smeesters, a professor at VUB, explains how optical sensing and spectroscopy can detect harmful substances in food quickly and without destroying the product. The talk looks at how these methods could support food safety, quality control and efforts to reduce food waste.

• Using light to judge food freshness
• Optical sensing and spectroscopy for detecting harmful substances
• Non-destructive testing for quality control
• Possible links to reducing food waste

What if light could tell us whether our food is still fresh? Lien explores how light-based technologies can help determine food freshness, opening up exciting possibilities for the future of food safety, quality control, and reducing food waste. Lien Smeesters, professor and photonics researcher at VUB, and someone who uses light to reveal what the human eye cannot see. Through her research in optical sensing and spectroscopy, Lien explores how light can be used to detect harmful substances in food quickly and without destroying the product. In her talk, she shows how photonics can help us uncover invisible risks and open up new possibilities for safer food. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx