Wiliot, Internet of Things (IoT) platform provider, has announced that Frank Yiannas, former Deputy Commissioner of Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and and Administration (FDA), has joined the company as a Strategic Advisor. Yiannas will help advise the food and retail markets on the ways in which ambient IoT, and the real-time, item-level visibility it delivers, can help meet the Food Traceability Final Rule, or Food Safety Modernization Act Section 204 (FSMA 204).

Ambient IoT is a battery-free wireless technology that is being incorporated in multiple wireless standards—such as Bluetooth, 5G Advanced, 6G, and Wi-Fi—allowing food, medicine, and clothing to be connected to the internet and the power of artificial intelligence (AI) at a fraction of the cost of legacy technologies. Ambient IoT enables a new real-time inventory paradigm that not only benefits compliance and safety, but is the key to more efficient store operations in the face of omni-channel competition.

Until now barcode techniques suffered from higher labor costs and low accuracy/compliance. Legacy Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags have been an option for decades, but the high infrastructure/reader costs have required handheld scanning with limited visibility and accuracy. Ambient IoT is an evolution of this technology using commodity Bluetooth radios, leveraging the latest security and sensing, and the ability to interact with smartphones.

In addition to Yiannas’ ambient IoT industry thought leadership, he will also advise Wiliot on how to best leverage its platform within the food safety ecosystem to achieve enhanced food safety and traceability. He will collaborate with executives, solutions development leaders, and sales and marketing teams on the appropriate approach for retailers to achieve FSMA Rule 204 compliance using its Ambient IoT Platform—while advising on key partnerships with consultants, systems integrators, and applications software vendors to bolster the platform to enable food companies and their software application partners to deliver a comprehensive FSMA Rule 204 solution.

Wiliot’s battery-free IoT Pixels can attach to any food product or packaging to connect it to the internet and embed it with intelligence. Once attached, products push out item or case-level information about their location, temperature, carbon footprint, and more – equipping food retailers and companies with the high-definition real-time data that is now required as part of FSMA Rule 204.