Nonetheless, "I think you'll see a cascading wave of [RFID] adoption in the [pharmaceutical and food and beverage] sectors, especially with growing mandates," Wildeman said. "It will be about public sentiment about food-related illnesses. I think that will bring pressure for the government to take action."

Impetus for change

Paul Chang, worldwide lead for business strategy for emerging technology at , said the recent food-poisoning incidents, along with improvements in RFID technology, make 2009 "the year for traceability. It's the perfect storm for RFID - feasibility of the technology, industry adoption and the increased need for tracking the movement of goods."

Those incidents include a salmonella outbreak between April and early August of last year that infected nearly 1,500 people in 43 states and the District of Columbia, according to the . The food-borne outbreak caused 286 people to be hospitalized, and it's listed as the possible cause of two deaths, the CDC said.

And a 2006 E.coli outbreak that was eventually linked to contaminated spinach caused 205 confirmed illnesses and three deaths, according to the .