Recent advances in nanosensors for food safety: Principles, applications and future perspectives

Addressing the limitations of traditional food safety testing requires rapid, sensitive, and portable analytical innovations. Nanosensors have surfaced as powerful tools for detecting pathogens and contaminants by exploiting the specific physicochemical properties of nanomaterials. This review outlines recent strides in nanosensor technology, covering material design and applications in monitoring diverse food safety indicators. Crucially, it explores the fusion of nanosensing with emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) systems. However, this review critically identifies that the practical transition of nanosensors from laboratory settings to complex food matrices is still hindered by significant signal interference and insufficient long-term stability of functionalized nanomaterials. While these smart platforms offer real-time decision-making potential, they introduce new complexities regarding data reliability, standardization, and regulatory acceptance. By evaluating current sensor performance against global safety standards, this work emphasizes that future trajectories must prioritize the development of robust, cost-effective, and sustainable sensing platforms that can be rigorously validated under real-world food-processing conditions.