Food Safety in the Era of Digital Agriculture: A Bibliometric Study on IoT-Based Innovations

Roughly one-third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted at some stage along the supply chain, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Inefficiencies along the food value chain and in consumption have considerable environmental, economic, and social impacts, thus representing a global challenge. Digitalization in agriculture has great potential to improve efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, resilience, and competitiveness across this sector through Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, sensors, data analytics and AI-based tools, leading to more targeted and precise agricultural operations and improved traceability. The EU Policy Guidelines for 2024-2029 showcase this potential by giving a key and priority role to supporting the entire food supply chain. In this research, particular attention will be given to safeguarding food safety through the use of IoT. A bibliometric analysis will be conducted on the Scopus research items (timeframe: 2012-2024). This analysis will enable us to examine the intellectual structure of this field of study and outline its main applications, as well as identify the key critical issues in its implementation. The future lines of research, as well as their academic and practical implications, will be highlighted.