The fish industry in the Netherlands alone consists of about 300 companies that generate a total revenue of 4 billion euros. Food quality, freshness and safety are important factors in this industry.
cosine and spin-off condi food developed an objective, non-destructive inspection method to improve the inspection of food. Together with Schmidt Zeevis from Rotterdam, a renowned sea food supplier for restaurants as well as consumers, a hyperspectral imaging application was developed to measure the freshness of fish in terms of the number of hours since it was caught.

Unlike conventional colour cameras, which split the visible spectrum into only three spectral bands, red, green and blue, a hyperspectral imaging camera splits the spectrum into tens or even hundreds of different spectral bands. This spectral information can be used to determine the chemical composition of the measured product. In combination with a model based on previous measurements, these data are used to determine the quality of a scanned product.

The fish freshness application measures the spectrum of the blood in the gills and other parts of the fish. Iron compounds in the blood are broken down after capture, which causes the blood to change its spectrum over time. The standard procedure is to observe the change in colour by eye, but the change is not clearly visible in the first days and therefore inaccurate and subjective. The change in spectrum can be measured more accurately with a hyperspectral imaging camera, which leads to a much higher accuracy in determining the freshness of the fish.

cosine founded the company condi food to offer turn-key hyperspectral equipment to the food processing industry for a variety of applications, with the mission to improve food safety and quality.