Journey toward the Future of Food: How Will Simulation, AI, Automation, Storage and Logistics Revolutionize the Sector through Digital Twins?

The food industry faces the ongoing challenge of ensuring food quality, safety, and traceability while minimizing waste and reducing its environmental impact. The perishable nature of food and the high variability of raw materials demand highly efficient systems. In this scenario, Industry 4.0 technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have propelled the use of Digital Twins (DTs). A digital twin is a dynamic virtual replica of a physical process or entity, connected in real-time via sensors. Although its adoption in the agri-food sector is still emerging, it offers an unprecedented opportunity to monitor, simulate, and predict biochemical and microbiological changes along the supply chain, optimizing decision-making from production to the final consumer. For perishable foods, DTs can integrate information on temperature, relative humidity, gas composition, respiration, ethylene production, packaging conditions, and product quality to predict deterioration and remaining shelf life.The primary goal of this special issue is to gather cutting-edge research on the development, integration, and implementation of the Digital Twin methodology in food science and technology. We aim to bridge the gap between data science and food science, exploring how virtual modeling, combined with real-time sensor data and AI, can optimize food formulation, thermal processing, postharvest handling, packaging, storage, cold chain logistics, and agricultural production, among others. Additionally, this issue intends to highlight strategies that utilize DTs to enhance food safety through predictive microbiology and intelligent packaging, improve the management of fresh and minimally processed products, and simultaneously contribute to circular economy principles and sustainability by reducing energy consumption and food loss. We seek to present not only conceptual frameworks but also real-world case studies, prototypes, and systematic evaluations that address current technological bottlenecks, such as data integration, interoperability, sensor calibration, model validation, biological variability, and the complex biological behavior of food matrices.We invite researchers to submit original research articles, reviews, and case studies. Topics of interest include:• The development of physics-based, data-driven, and hybrid digital twin models for food processing• The application of DTs in postharvest handling, storage, cold chain, and shelf-life prediction• The integration of IoT, computer vision, gas sensors, and biosensors for real-time quality monitoring • Smart and intelligent packaging connected with DT platforms• DTs in novel food formulation; and sustainability or ethical assessments in the sector.We encourage authors to present works that analyze both the tangible benefits and the implementation challenges, such as computational complexity, security, uncertainty, scalability, and multiscale data management. Topic editors: Luis Puente, Akshay D. Sonawane Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85741/journey-toward-the-future-of-food-how-will-simulation-ai-automation-storage-and-logistics-revolutionize-the-sector-through-digital-twins