TSU scientists and specialists from the company Cryotech have presented the first batch of thermal labels that ensure the quality control of frozen fish. Stickers with a certain chemical composition irreversibly change color if during the transportation process fish products were subjected to even slight defrosting. This is the first development created with the support of the first University Venture Fund in the Russian Federation. The Fund invests not only in university but also regional startups.
The work on creating the thermoactive labels was carried out by the enterprise Cryotech, and the chemists of the TSU Laboratory of Organic Synthesis were engaged in the scientific part.
- Most fish are harvested in the Far East and go through a difficult transportation route by road or rail, stored in different storage facilities. It is difficult to find where and when the fish spoiled due to defrosting. Therefore, the market needs a universal means of control that cannot be faked or changed, - the developers explain.
The Tomsk thermal label is based on safe materials, and it has a chemical principle of operation. If the temperature in which the fish is located becomes higher than the permissible -18°С, then the label irreversibly changes color from white to green.
A feature of the labels developed at TSU is that they are self-activating. The sticker is frozen along with the product and already in the process of freezing is independently brought into working condition. Existing analogs in the USA and China need to be activated forcibly. The thermal labels created in Tomsk are significantly cheaper.
Labels will be pasted on all bulk lots of frozen fish, up to individual packages (if the price allows). This will also help to accurately show at what stage of transportation the thermal conditions were violated, because the mark will be checked from point to point.
- Two types of thermal tags have now been developed at Cryotech: self-activating and not. We want to compete with the tags that are activated forcibly because they also have their own niche - this is the transportation of organs, - said Alexey Knyazev, one of the founders of the company. - Cryotech’s plans include the development of labels for other low temperatures.
An experimental batch of thermal tags was presented to consumers and will undergo industrial tests in supply chains.