**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** FOREIGN OBJECT CONTAMINATION IN FOODS POST A GREAT THREAT TO THE SAFETY OF CONSUMERS AND MAY CAUSE ENORMOUS LOSS TO FOOD MANUFACTURES DUE TO LAWSUITS AND RECALLS. THESE FOREIGN OBJECTS MAY BE ENDOGENOUS TO THE FOOD, SUCH AS PITS AND BONE PARTICLES, OR EXOGENOUS, SUCH AS GLASS, METAL, WOOD, PLASTIC, AND STONE. ACCORDING TO WORLDWIDE DATA FROM HORIZONSCAN, THERE HAD BEEN ONE FOOD RECALL PER WEEK THAT WAS RELATED TO FOREIGN OBJECTS FOUND IN FOOD IN 2018. CURRENTLY, FOOD MANUFACTURERS USUALLY RELY ON TWO TYPES OF TECHNOLOGIES, I.E., METAL DETECTION AND/OR X-RAY INSPECTION, FOR FOREIGN OBJECT DETECTION IN FOOD PRODUCTION AS THEIR HACCPS. A METAL DETECTOR CAN FIND METALS, INCLUDING FERROUS, NONFERROUS, AND STAINLESS STEEL, WHICH MAY BE SPLINTERS FROM MACHINERY OR FRACTIONS OF BROKEN METAL FRAGMENTS. BUT METAL DETECTORS DO NOT RESPOND TO OTHER NON-METAL FOREIGN OBJECTS THAT MAY CONTAMINATE FOODS AND THE METAL DETECTOR OPERATION REQUIRES A METAL FREE ZONE ON THE PRODUCTION LINE. ON THE OTHER HAND, AN X-RAY DETECTOR CAN BE USED FOR A WIDER RANGE OF FOREIGN OBJECTS, INCLUDING METAL, STONE, BONE, AND HARD PLASTICS. HOWEVER, X-RAY EQUIPMENT IS EXPENSIVE, REGULATED, UNSAFE FOR WORKERS, AND INEFFICIENT TO DETECT LIGHT AND THIN BONES, AND OTHER LIGHT FOREIGN MATERIALS, SUCH AS CHERRY STONES AND INSECTS [1]. FURTHERMORE, EACH FOOD PRODUCT MAY PRESENT SPECIAL TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES, SINCE THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF FOOD AND PACKAGES MAY RESPOND DIFFERENTLY TO AVAILABLE DETECTION SYSTEMS.WE PROPOSE MICROWAVE IMAGING TECHNOLOGY (MIT) WHICH OFFERS NON-INVASIVE, NON-IONIZING, HYGIENIC, AND CONTACTLESS SENSING METHODS FOR PACKAGED FOOD. DUE TO THE LOW RADIATION POWER DENSITY, IT IS ALSO SAFER TO HUMAN BODY THAN X-RAY. FURTHERMORE, COMPARED WITH THE COMMONLY USED OPTICAL SENSING TECHNOLOGY, IT PROVIDES BETTER DETECTION PERFORMANCE DUE TO HIGHER SIGNAL PENETRATION THROUGH FOOD, RESILIENCE TO SMOKE/GAS/MOISTURE/GLARE/LIQUID, AND NO NEED OF LIGHT. MOREOVER, THANKS TO THE RECENT ADVANCEMENT OF SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY, A VARIETY OF MICROWAVE CHIPSETS HAS RECENTLY BEEN AVAILABLE AND REVEALED EXCELLENT SENSING PERFORMANCE. IN ADDITION, THE SIZE AND COST OF MICROWAVE COMPONENTS HAVE DRAMATICALLY DECREASED FOR RAPID PROTOTYPING AND MASS PRODUCTION. HOWEVER, THESE STATE-OF-THE-ART MICROWAVE CHIPSETS HAVE YET TO BE UTILIZED IN FOOD INSPECTION (E.G., TO AUTOMATE PACKAGED FOOD-PROCESSING) WHICH DEMANDS HIGHER EFFICIENCY IN QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND CONTAMINATION DETECTION. OUR RESEARCH TEAM WILL MEASURE ELECTROMAGENTIC WAVE PROPAGATION THROUGH PACKAGED FOOD AND CONSTRUCT THE CORRESPONDING IMAGES TO DETECT FOREIGN OBJECTS IN PACKAGED FOOD. MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS WILL BE DEVELOPED AND USED TO PRECISELY IDENTIFY SHAPE, SIZE, MATERIAL (METAL, GLASS, PLASTIC, BONE, ETC), AND LOCATION OF THE FOREIGN OBJECTS INSIDE THE PACKAGED FOOD. THE PROPOSED MICROWAVE IMAGING SYSTEM WILL BROADLY BENEFIT FOOD-PACKAGING AND FOOD-PROCESSING FACILITIES.