Optimizing Food101 Classification with Transfer Learning: A Fine-Tuning Approach Using EfficientNetB0

Much research has been done on the classification of the food101 dataset, but much of this research which achieved an accuracy score of more than 90% explores heavyweight architecture such as EfficientNetB7, Visual Geometry Group19, ResNet-200, Inception v4, DenseNet-201, ResNeXt-101, MobileNet v3 and many more. This study explores the classification of the Food101 dataset using the EfficientNetB0 architecture, a lightweight architecture. Compared to other popular CNN architecture, EfficientNetB0 has relatively small parameters, which makes it computationally efficient and suitable for deployment on resource-constraint environments. The research aims to balance model accuracy and computational efficiency, addressing the need for resource-constrained environments. Five experiments were conducted while varying the number of fine-tuned layers. Results demonstrate that the fine-tuned EfficientNetB0 model achieves an accuracy score of accuracy score of 97.54%, Top_k_categorical accuracy of 99.89%, precision of 98.21%, and recall of 97.02% in just 5 epochs. This research will significantly contribute to the field of transfer learning by developing specialized models that excel in target tasks. Besides, it will advance dietary monitoring, food logging, and health-related technologies, enabling more accessible and practical solutions for consumers. However, the optimal number of layers to fine-tune for achieving perfect accuracy with EfficientNetB0 remains uncertain. It often involves trial and error to determine the best configuration for optimal results, presenting an opportunity for future research.