Abstract: A smart prep table and associated method of food traceability is disclosed which comprises an RFID system used in conjunction with a machine vision or intelligent imaging system to unobtrusively obtain, maintain and update information on the current inventory levels of the food items and/or ingredients on or in proximity to the prep table. The device and related method of the present invention may also be used to gather traceability data with respect to the food items and/or ingredients, and the food products that result therefrom. In turn, the traceability data may be provided to consumers or other users, and may also be used to generate a variety of different consumer or user alerts.

Abstract: A method of remotely updating information related to a food product item is disclosed herein. The method is comprised of configuring an application that can receive nutritional, allergen, dating or other important information specific to the food product. The information may be updatable either automatically or manually. The data is input into the application and linked to a remote database via a key identifier. The food product is then tagged or labeled so that a user may access the most current updated information. The method of the present invention may be used in conjunction with an intelligent printer, such as a RFID, QR code, or barcode printer, a smart device, or a personal computer.

Abstract: An automated method of tracing food products that are to be donated or disposed of and that is comprised of (1) the configuration and setup of an application for the food product items to be donated or disposed of; (2) the execution of the food product item donation or disposal event, wherein labels may be created with appropriate data about the food product and/or event printed thereon and/or the data captured in a data log; and (3) the viewing and/or extraction and further processing of the captured data from the data log of the updates to the food products that are being donated or disposed of. The method of the present invention may be used in conjunction with an intelligent printer, such as a RFID, QR code, or barcode printer.