With food production shifting away from traditional farm‐to‐table approaches to efficient multistep supply chains, the incidence of food contamination has increased. Consequently, pathogen testing via inefficient culture‐based methods has increased, despite its lack of real‐time capabilities and need for centralized facilities. While in situ pathogen detection would address these limitations and enable individual product monitoring, accurate detection within unprocessed, packaged food products without user manipulation has proven elusive. Herein, “Lab‐in‐a‐Package” is presented, a platform capable of sampling, concentrating, and detecting target pathogens within closed food packaging, without intervention. This system consists of a newly designed packaging tray and reagent‐infused membrane that can be paired universally with diverse pathogen sensors. The inclined food packaging tray maximizes fluid localization onto the sensing interface, while the membrane acts as a reagent‐immobilizing matrix and an antifouling barrier for the sensor. The platform is substantiated using a newly discovered Salmonella‐responsive nucleic acid probe, which enables hands‐free detection of 103 colony forming units (CFU) g−1 target pathogen in a packaged whole chicken. The platform remains effective when contamination is introduced with toolsand surfaces, ensuring widespread efficacy. Its real‐world use for in situ detection is simulated using a handheld fluorescence scanner with smartphone connectivity.

Despite extensive commercial and regulatory interventions, food spoilage and contamination continue to impose massive ramifications on human health and the global economy. Recognizing that such issues would be significantly eliminated by the accurate and timely monitoring of food quality markers, smart food sensors have garnered significant interest as platforms for both real‐time, in‐package food monitoring and on‐site commercial testing. In both cases, the sensitivity, stability, and efficiency of the developed sensors are largely informed by underlying material design, driving focus towards the creation of advanced materials optimized for such applications. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review of emerging intelligent materials and sensors developed in this space, through the lens of three key food quality markers – biogenic amines, pH, and pathogenic microbes. Each sensing platform is presented with targeted consideration towards the contributions of the underlying metallic or polymeric substrate to the sensing mechanism and detection performance. Further, the real‐world applicability of presented works is considered with respect to their capabilities, regulatory adherence, and commercial potential. Finally, we provide a situational assessment of the current state of intelligent food monitoring technologies, discussing material‐centric strategies to address their existing limitations, regulatory concerns, and commercial considerations.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Regulation of immune responses during viral infection is critical to preventing the development immunopathology that impairs host survival. NK cells are well-known for their antiviral functions that promote viral clearance, however their roles in limiting immune-mediated pathology are still unclear. Using a mouse model for genital herpes simplex virus type 2 infection, we find that NK cell derived-IFN-γ directly counteracts IL-6 mediated matrix metalloproteases (MMP) activity in macrophages to limit MMP-mediated tissue damage. Our findings uncover a key immunoregulatory function of NK cells during host-pathogen interactions that highlight the potential of NK cell therapy for treatment of severe viral infections.