Advances in Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence for Food Safety Systems

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, global food supply chains have become increasingly networked, complex, and cross-domain. Issues such as data silos, information opacity, and a lack of trust among multiple stakeholders remain critical bottlenecks restricting the advancement of food safety management. At the same time, the rapid development of information technologies—particularly the deep integration of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain, and edge computing—is providing unprecedented technical support for building a new generation of food safety management systems.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the ways in which food safety is monitored, warned, and decided upon. From deep learning-based contaminant identification to multi-modal data fusion analysis, AI technologies are making food quality assessment more accurate and efficient. Cutting-edge technologies represented by large language models and multi-modal large models further expand the potential applications of AI in scenarios such as intelligent regulatory compliance analysis and cross-modal information fusion. Meanwhile, the Internet of Things enables full-process data collection from "farm to fork," while blockchain, through its decentralized and tamper-proof trust mechanisms, ensures data authenticity and traceability. When these technologies work in synergy, they not only enable transparent management throughout the food lifecycle but also promote automated and intelligent regulatory processes through smart contracts.

This Special Issue aims to explore the frontiers and innovative applications of information technology and artificial intelligence in food safety systems. We invite the submission of original research papers and review articles. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: AI-driven food safety early warning, multi-modal data fusion, exploration of large language models and multi-modal large models, collaborative blockchain-IoT traceability, smart contract applications, data security architectures based on distributed ledger technology, and digital twin-enabled supply chain transparency.

We look forward to your valuable contributions to fostering the deep integration of information technology and artificial intelligence in modern food science. 

Prof. Dr. Xin Zhang
Prof. Dr. Chuanheng Sun
Dr. Ying Sun
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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