Standoff Raman spectrometers and other chemical imaging instruments might have significant utility for food retailers and chain restaurants in both quality control and food safety monitoring applications. If hypothetically, an unauthorized cleaning product were detected on the grill line during regular business hours, a time-dated alert could be registered by the chemical detector. This could potentially prevent preparation surface and food contamination without interfering with the productivity of the kitchen staff. It may therefore be advantageous to consider expanding the Raman chemical signature libraries to include all restaurant cleaning liquids, powders, sanitizers, etc.

Several questions for discussion:

1.) Are the current Raman instruments cost prohibitive for this food retail application? Could that change in the future?

2.) Would it be feasible to detect the chemical signatures of decaying food items in the food preparation environment?

3.) Are there specific chemical signatures associated with the suitable environmental conditions for harmful bacterial growth?

4.) Are there detectable trace chemical bi-products which result from the production and proliferation of harmful bacteria?

5.) Would it be economically feasible to have a locked ticker tape, akin to those utilized in art preservation spheres & museums for environmental monitoring purposes, to register all hazardous chemical detections on food preparation surfaces during the regular hours of operation?