SavIA – EMENASA & Partners

The SavIA project aims to develop new advanced technological solutions to predict food quality and safety. The initiative combines advanced sensing technologies, artificial intelligence, machine learning, chemometrics and biotechnological solutions to improve quality control in smoked fish products and cured meat products.

The project seeks to advance towards faster, more predictive and sustainable monitoring systems capable of reducing risks, optimising processes and decreasing food waste.

The Problem

The food industry faces the ongoing challenge of ensuring high standards of quality and safety. This challenge is particularly relevant in sectors such as smoked fish products and cured meat products, where the early detection of defects, contamination or quality loss is essential to protect consumers and maintain competitiveness.

Traditional control systems often rely on laboratory analysis. Although these methods are rigorous, they can involve long waiting times, high costs and a limited capacity to analyse large volumes of products in real time.

In addition, traditional sampling is carried out on only a small portion of each batch. This can make it difficult to detect problems in heterogeneous products and may lead to food safety risks, unnecessary rejections or the waste of products that remain suitable for consumption.

The sector therefore needs to move towards more agile, predictive and automated systems capable of monitoring food quality and safety in a non-invasive, rapid and reliable way.

The Project

To address this challenge, the SavIA project is promoting the development of a new generation of technological solutions for predicting food quality and safety.

The initiative combines advanced sensing systems, including photonic technologies such as NIR, HSI and FTIR, with low-cost IoT sensors to analyse food products non-invasively and in situ.

The resulting data will be processed using models based on artificial intelligence, machine learning and chemometrics, capable of interpreting complex information and predicting critical quality and safety parameters.

The project will also investigate specific biotechnological solutions. These include the use of lactic acid bacteria and bioactive peptides obtained from fishery by-products for the biopreservation of fish products, as well as the application of cold plasma for the non-thermal surface decontamination of cured meat products.

SavIA is being developed by a multidisciplinary consortium led by EMENASA Industria y Automatismo, S.A.. Alongside EMENASA, the consortium includes UBAGO Group Mare, S.L., PERNISAL, S.L., LUCE Innovative Technologies, S.L. and Digital Food Quality, S.L., with the collaboration of research organisations such as ANFACO-CECOPESCA and CARTIF. The linked websites correspond to the organisations named in the consortium.

The Impact

SavIA represents a significant step forward in the digital and technological transformation of the food industry.

On the one hand, the project will improve the early detection of quality and safety issues, enabling faster and more data-driven decision-making. On the other hand, it will help reduce economic losses and food waste by preventing both the release of non-compliant products and the unnecessary rejection of valid products.

The integration of advanced sensing technologies and artificial intelligence will support the development of more predictive, proactive and efficient control models. This represents an important improvement over traditional systems, which tend to operate retrospectively and rely more heavily on external analysis.

The biotechnological solutions investigated will also contribute to strengthening the sustainability of the food sector through cleaner and more efficient alternatives aligned with circular economy principles.

The project will also reinforce the technological capabilities of the consortium, generating shared knowledge and new innovation opportunities across the digital, biotechnology and agri-food sectors.

The Result

Following the final positive funding decision under the CDTI INNTERCONECTA STEP programme, SavIA is moving forward as a strategic collaborative R&D&I project for the food industry.

With approved funding of 1.513.355,39 €, SavIA is co-financed by the European Union through the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP). This support will enable the development, integration and validation of new sensing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology solutions applied to the predictive control of food quality and safety.

This support will be essential for advancing the development of functional prototypes and validating their potential in relevant real-world operating environments, particularly for smoked fish products and cured meat products.

In the long term, SavIA will lay the foundations for a new generation of faster, more accurate, sustainable and responsible food assurance systems.

The project will also strengthen the position of EMENASA and the other consortium members within the food innovation ecosystem, supporting new R&D activities and contributing to a safer, smarter and more sustainable food future.