Ding, HTian, JYu, WWilson, DIYoung, BRCui, XXin, XWang, ZLi, W2024-01-092024-01-092023-12-18Foods, ISSN: 2304-8158 (Print); 2304-8158 (Online), MDPI AG, 12(24), 4511-. doi: 10.3390/foods122445112304-81582304-8158http://hdl.handle.net/10292/17081Over the past few decades, the food industry has undergone revolutionary changes due to the impacts of globalization, technological advancements, and ever-evolving consumer demands. Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data have become pivotal in strengthening food safety, production, and marketing. With the continuous evolution of AI technology and big data analytics, the food industry is poised to embrace further changes and developmental opportunities. An increasing number of food enterprises will leverage AI and big data to enhance product quality, meet consumer needs, and propel the industry toward a more intelligent and sustainable future. This review delves into the applications of AI and big data in the food sector, examining their impacts on production, quality, safety, risk management, and consumer insights. Furthermore, the advent of Industry 4.0 applied to the food industry has brought to the fore technologies such as smart agriculture, robotic farming, drones, 3D printing, and digital twins; the food industry also faces challenges in smart production and sustainable development going forward. This review articulates the current state of AI and big data applications in the food industry, analyses the challenges encountered, and discusses viable solutions. Lastly, it outlines the future development trends in the food industry.© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/artificial intelligencebig dataemerging technologiesfood industrysmart sensors30 Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences3006 Food Sciences9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure2 Zero Hunger0908 Food Sciences3006 Food sciences3106 Industrial biotechnologyJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.3390/foods12244511