Smarter safety at China Flower Expo site
Officials conduct food tests at the expo site.
Officials monitor catering venues.
A "smart brain" is in use at the ongoing 10th China Flower Expo to secure food safety, the city's market regulators said on Thursday.
The smart monitoring and management platform features a combination of artificial intelligence technology and data analysis.
"Remote real-time round-the-clock monitoring is implemented via 149 surveillance cameras installed at food manufacturing and processing areas of more than 70 catering service venues inside the expo site," said Qiu Congqian, an official with the food operation department of the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.
In 39 cases, catering operators have been warned for improper food processing via the system and have made corrections with potential food safety hazards eliminated.
"A closed-loop management mechanism on food safety has been established at the site," said Qiu.
To ensure food safety, a food material warehouse has been established at the site, covering vegetables, fruits, meat, aquatic products and pre-cooked food packages which are supplied to catering businesses at the park.
These items are tested at the warehouse in advance before they are delivered to food businesses, said Qiu.
An official carries out tests on food.
The smart monitoring system.
Transportation is closed-loop and all ingredients can be tracked to eliminate hazards.
Sample tests are conducted on fresh food that have higher safety risks such as vegetables, meat and aquatic products and more than 294,500 items have been tested so far.
If there are rats in a kitchen, the cameras will sense their movement and send pictures to officials, said Chen Chunhua, an official with the Chongming District Administration for Market Regulation.
They also capture irregularities such as chefs failing to wear masks or garbage bins not being closed properly.
The intelligent approach has also been applied to the management of facilities including elevators and amusement facilities.
Elevators at the site can automatically alert staff if passengers are trapped.
The food materials warehouse at the expo site.
