The food industry is evolving toward intelligence and digitalization, but is faced with challenges such as inconsistent standards and poor system compatibility due to lack of unified technical guidance.

GB/T 46511-2025, General technical requirements for food digital factory, the first general technical national standard for food digital factory, was released recently. It bridges the gap in the industry, serving as the technical support and implementation framework for the intelligent and digital transformation of enterprises in the food industry.

The standard specifies the basic technical elements of digital factories, including the real-time monitoring in the production process, intelligent early warning of quality risks, and full-chain traceability capabilities. It can guarantee the product safety from the source, according to Liu Peng, Associate Researcher of the China National Institute of Standardization.