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Food spoilage is a critical global issue linked to food insecurity, public health risks, and environmental sustainability. Current detection methods, such as expiration dates and sensory evaluation, are often unreliable and fail to reflect real-time biochemical changes. Therefore, this project aims to develop a rapid, visual, and real-time food spoilage indicator. Specifically, it seeks to develop a simple, cost-effective, and visually intuitive food freshness indicator that enables real-time detection of spoilage for everyday consumers. Natural anthocyanin pigments were extracted from roselle and utilized as a pH-responsive sensing agent. The extract was immobilized within a sodium alginate hydrogel matrix to form a stable, biodegradable indicator system. The developed hydrogel demonstrated distinct and reproducible colour transitions corresponding to pH variation, shifting from red in acidic conditions to bright red at neutral pH and grey in alkaline environments. These visible changes confirm its high sensitivity to chemical alterations associated with spoilage processes, enabling clear and immediate visual detection.