Harnessing AI can help to ensure safe food for consumers across the US and beyond

With consumer confidence in the safety of US food hitting a 13-year-low last summer, there is clearly work to do for consumer goods companies. There are multiple drivers for this loss in confidence, including concerns about insufficient government regulation, fears around foodborne illnesses and contaminants, and a rise in the number of food and beverage recalls.

Given that four in 10 Americans say clearer information about food safety practices would improve their confidence, brands are well positioned to regain momentum by proactively demonstrating how they safeguard consumers.

For the food industry, safety is the cornerstone of consumer trust. Without clear commitments to safety, food companies face a consumer base – including previously loyal customers – that may take their business elsewhere. In this digital age, consumers have access to more product news and information than ever before. The widescale need for robust food safety procedures has never been clearer.

The food sector is already using AI to optimize its supply chains, reduce waste and improve demand forecasting. Now, pioneering companies are also using AI for food safety processes. Its capabilities are significant – including switching safety approaches from reactive to proactive, using data-driven systems that focus on real-time pathogen detection, predictive risk analysis, and automated quality control. Computer vision can be harnessed to inspect contamination, AI-driven sensors can be used for microbial detection, and machine learning can analyze supply chain data to prevent recalls.

The potential for AI to be harnessed is substantial: several AI food safety startups are now partnering with regulatory bodies to co-develop compliance-ready platforms, blurring the line between enforcement and innovation.

However, while some high-profile food companies are jumping on rapid innovation to lead the charge, take-up across the sector remains limited, with less than 30% of global food manufacturers adopting AI for food safety processes. Even though manual systems are no longer efficient for today’s supply demands, paper-based recordkeeping largely prevails. This means that companies reluctant to embrace digitization are leaving themselves exposed to risk.

One of the key barriers is cost. Many businesses struggle to quantify the return on investment for AI safety initiatives, making it hard to justify high initial expenditure. But this approach comes with its own price. According to one study, the business cost of a food recall averages around $10 million – and in 23% of cases, the cost exceeds $30 million.

These enormous sums include assembling crisis management teams, issuing recall notifications, retrieving contaminated products, and conducting investigations to prevent future reoccurrences. But they’re only the tip of the iceberg, as further expenses such as legal fees and lost sales add to the financial burden. Reputational damage is harder to measure, but its impacts are no less severe, as rebuilding consumer confidence is a costly and intensive process, often taking years to build back trust.

AI systems can mitigate these risks, and for a fraction of the cost of an expensive food safety incident. One case study of a collaboration between Walmart and IBM Food Trust, for example, shows how AI was able to reduce the time required to trace the origin of contaminated lettuce from seven days to just 2.2 seconds. Such rapid traceability means companies can pinpoint and remove only affected batches, preventing widespread recalls that waste huge volumes of food and cost – potentially – millions.

AI offers benefits beyond safety management, too. Automation can negate administrative and time-intensive tasks within product development, creating capacity to strengthen product portfolios, elevate brand reputation and deeper consumer connections – heightening confidence alongside solid safety performance.

Consumer trust is the cornerstone of a food company’s success – but it’s never been easier to lose it. Amid global uncertainties, volatile supply chains, increased consumer awareness and a growing focus on health and wellbeing, food safety needs to be a paramount priority.

Harnessing innovation to improve food safety is one of the topics discussed at the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) Conference, in Vancouver, B.C. last month. Of course, AI and tech are not a magic solution. Their impact depends on how they are implemented, and a commitment to the ethos that food safety is everyone’s business.

AI systems empower companies to deliver safety excellence smoothly, positioning them as trusted, reputable brands. Those that continue to rely on fallible safety systems risk events that could cost them their reputation forever.