{"id":119644,"date":"2024-12-18T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/?p=119644"},"modified":"2024-12-17T13:08:47","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T21:08:47","slug":"the-growing-need-for-ai-in-food-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/industry\/blog\/sustainability\/2024\/12\/18\/the-growing-need-for-ai-in-food-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"The growing need for AI in food safety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Foodborne illness has recently made headlines across the Unites States, as the effects of a particularly widespread outbreak of bird flu continue to be felt across the farming sector. In the United States, there have been over 740 food and beverage recalls in 2024, already more than doubling the total reported in 2023 and on pace to triple the total from 2022.1<\/sup> This issue is also not limited to the United States. An estimated 600 million people worldwide are made sick by foodborne illnesses each year.2<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the illnesses they cause, food safety incidents have significant negative effects on economies, farmers, the environment in the form of food waste, and governments. Returning to the example of the United States for a moment, the federal government each year budgets over $7 billion of its tax revenue to foodborne illness response programs.3<\/sup> This is a reactive system, and to reduce the human, financial, and environmental effects of food safety incidents, we need to become more proactive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n