ABSTRACT
Food processors are increasingly investigating new and
innovative technologies for food quality and safety profil-
ing. Thermal imaging (TI) or infrared (IR) thermography
is a two-dimensional, non-contact diagnostic technique
for measuring surface temperature distribution that can
be usefully employed in non-destructive evaluations of
materials.[1] TI is widely used in surveillance applications
and was originally designed for military use in night vision.
However, with the advancement in computational analytical
tools and digitized high-resolution imaging, it has found
application in various other fields includingmedicine, mate-
rial science, and fire safety.[2] It enables detection of people
or objects whose surface temperature is distinguishable from
that of background objects.[3] TI quantifies the changes in
surface temperature with high temporal and spatial resolu-
tion compared to single-point measurements as is the case
with other contact methods (e.g., thermocouples and ther-
mometers). TI systems are suitable for a wide range of
applications due to their portability, real-time imaging, and
non-invasive and non-contact temperature measurement cap-
ability. Increasing demands for objectivity, consistency,
