Globally, food waste is a major economic and environmental problem. A 2009 study conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health found that up to 40 percent of food in the United States is wasted due to a number of factors, including exposure to unsafe temperatures as the food travels from farms to stores or restaurants. This leads to billions of dollars in annual losses for producers and retailers alike.

"If a grocer turns away an entire truckload of strawberries due to spoilage, that's a $40,000 loss," says Michael McCartney, founder and principal at QLM Consulting, an RFID consulting firm serving the food industry.

TempTrip, a two-year-old joint venture between Sealed Air, a New Jersey-based provider of food and protective packaging products, and Results Oriented Inc., a software integrator and consultancy based in Colorado, believe that RFID sensors and software can resolve this issue.

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