This article was written without the use of generative AI.
You may already be aware that RFID chips are increasingly being used to make the checkout experience faster for consumers. However, RFID chips also provide another huge benefit—making it easier to safely distribute food. In today’s article, we’ll explore how RFID chips are revolutionizing food safety, and helping protect consumers from foodborne illness!
What are RFID chips?
RFID chips are small, electronic devices that use radio waves to transmit data. They differ from barcodes in a few key ways: firstly, unlike barcodes, they don’t require line-of-sight to scan an item. Secondly, an RFID reader can read multiple items at once.
That means that a warehouse manager can simply point an RFID reader at a certain area, and known instantly what items are in stock. And in retail stores, shoppers ready to check out can pass their basket through a RFID reader, and instantly be presented with an itemized list of purchases. RFID is used in many other industries, too. Hospitals use it to track equipment and medications; airlines use it to track luggage; and it can even be used to track livestock and pets.
How long have RFID chips existed?
This technology isn’t new—it’s existed in its current form since 1983. However, early models were expensive, and companies were reluctant to adopt them. From the 1980s to the early 2000s, a single RFID tag could cost much more than the item it was tracking. This made it incompatible with most retail and logistics use cases.
However, in the mid-2010s, RFID technology became more affordable, and major retailers started rolling it out at scale—most significantly, Walmart. Once one of the biggest retailers in the world started using RFID, it wasn’t long before other major brands hopped on board.
RFID chips and end-to-end traceability
One of the biggest benefits of RFID tracking is that it provides “end-to-end traceability.” In other words, it allows users to automatically track items as they move through the supply chain.
This is incredibly useful for the food industry. When every pallet, or individual food item, is equipped with an RFID chip, it essentially has a traceable identify. The chips can provide evidence that the food has stayed in safe conditions all the way from its place of origin to the store shelf.
The fact that the food is tracked automatically is another huge benefit. Previously, food items were inspected periodically at various checkpoints (like when a truck was unloaded, for instance). With RFID chips, the food is tracked continuously and automatically, from processing, to shipping, to receiving.
How RFID chips assist with product recalls
Although it’s always nice to know where your food has been, the information really becomes critical during a food recall. If, for example, a routine factory inspection discovers listeria on the production floor—as was the case during the January 2026 cheese recall—companies can identify exactly which lots may have been contaminated, and pull those specific lots only. This significantly decreases profit loss, as well as food waste.
RFID technology also enables fast recalls. Using RFID tracking, distributors can easily identify exactly where flagged items went, right down to the individual storefront. They can then very quickly ask retailers to remove those items from shelves. Since the recall process is much more efficient, and much faster, the risk to consumers (and sellers) is drastically reduced.
RFID chips and freshness management
Retailers can also use RFID to keep items fresh! At the simplest level, RFID tags let retailers and warehouses track exactly when a product entered the system, and how long it has been there. Instead of relying on manual checks or guessing, staff members can quickly identify which items are oldest and should be sold first. This supports proper “first in, first out” rotation, one of the most basic tenets of food retail management.
In addition, since RFID can scan many items at once without line-of-sight, stores can perform frequent, near-instant inventory checks. That means they are less likely to overstock items that will expire before being sold. Again, this reduces both profit loss and food waste—a win-win!
Ultimately, RFID creates a system that’s less reactive, and more proactive. Instead of discovering expired or unsafe food when it’s too late, businesses can anticipate and manage shelf life in real time.
RFID chips and cold chain monitoring
Some RFID tags include sensors that record temperature over time. Though these are more costly, they are of tremendous benefit to manufacturers shipping meat, seafood, frozen foods, and dairy. Some models can even be programmed to automatically flag and reject food that warms up beyond safe limits. So, distributors can identify and reject anything that has briefly entered the “danger zone,” even if it cooled down later.
This is of even more critical importance in the healthcare field. Some medical products, like the Covid vaccine, can lose their effectiveness if they become too warm or too cold, even briefly. RFID cold chain monitoring helps ensure that things like vaccines, biologics, blood products, and certain medications that stay within strict temperature ranges. When a shipment arrives to a medical facility, an RFID reader can instantly pull the full temperature history. Staff then knows whether it stayed within safe limits the entire time. This ensures product efficacy and prevents compromised products from being used on patients.
Should my business adopt RFID technology?
Full disclosure: this blog was written by a company which provides packing, labeling, printing, and tracking technology for businesses. We have seen RFID give amazing ROI to many of our clients, and we think it can provide an incredible array of benefits. However, we also know that it’s not the best choice for everyone.
The main constraint regarding RFID is cost at scale. Even though it’s true that RFID tags are much cheaper than they were 20 years ago, they will still add about a few cents per item. There is also the cost of RFID readers, which are roughly $1,000–$5,000 per unit. The biggest cost, though, is system integration. At the smallest scale (like a very simple pilot test), companies might spend around $10,000–$50,000 to test RFID in one area or workflow. A typical mid-sized implementation—like a warehouse or hospital system—often lands somewhere in the $50,000 to $250,000+ range, depending on complexity.
The bottom line: RFID makes sense for large companies that handle high-value items at scale. If you are starting a small cottage food business, you probably do not have an inventory volume that would justify the investment. If your shipping errors are rare, and cheap to fix, manual tracking is most likely a better. RFID will only be worth considering if your items require strict temperature requirements, and/or mistakes are costly.
RFID is best used for companies who feel pain at large scale—in other words, when tiny inefficiencies add up to big losses. That’s why companies like Walmart pushed adoption: even tiny improvements in inventory accuracy can save them millions. We have seen this play out with our own clients, as well.
Questions about inventory management?
At SSI Packaging, we are here to help companies and business owners of all sizes. If you are considering adopting RFID, or another type of tracking technology, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. Our experts will give you an honest opinion of which solution is right for you. We are also here to assist our customers with 2D barcode adoption and other modern challenges. Feel free to give us a call today!