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Dealers like Walmart use IBM blockchain technology to track products from the farm to the table
If only to see E. coli was so easy (through Shutterstock).
2018 was not a nice year for Roman lettuce. Just before Thanksgiving, the popular vegetable mix began its second major recall in the United States this year due to the bacterial contamination of E. coli.
And on December 6, while the US Disease Control Centers reiterated its warning on the Roma, the US Department of Agriculture added another 2,500 tons of minced meat to the 3,500-ton recall published on Tuesday. Salmonella epidemic. In fact, salmonella has forced the destruction of turkey, pork, chicken, eggs, tahini sauce and even Kastogg cereal Honey Smacks this year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. There are many ways in which food goes wrong while moving from the farm to your table.
It is here that Blockchain can help by providing a secure, unalterable, transparent and easily consultable database of where the product comes from, how it was transported and which brokers and dealers have touched it before it reaches the consumer's plate.
On October 18, IBM announced the general availability of its blockbuster-based cloud network of IBM Food Trust after 18 months of testing. IBM Food Trust uses the blockchain computerized accounting technology to enable food growers, processors, transporters, suppliers, retailers and other food industry suppliers to easily, easily and transparently follow products from the field to the supermarket shelf, ensuring that any contamination can be brought back to its source quickly. This is important for two reasons: first, of course, so that food contaminated with pathogens that can ruin, sick, injure or even kill can be quickly removed from the supply chain. Secondly, it could prevent the destruction of non-contaminated products currently ingested in the recalls of wholesale food products.
Speed is essential to stop the spread of contaminated products to consumers and, at this time, the process is painful, even lethal, slow.
The first major case of E. coli contamination of romaine lettuce was detected on April 4, according to the Food and Drug Administration. On April 10, the FDA announced the outbreak to the public, but could not identify the source of the contaminated lettuce. On April 13, the growing region of Yuma, Arizona, was identified as the source of the epidemic. The last day of the Yuma Roman lettuce harvesting season was on April 16th, but the FDA could not confirm it until May 2nd. But since Roman lettuce lasts for 21 days, the FDA can not be sure that all of Yuma's contaminated lettuce was out of the supply chain. It was not until June 28 that the CDC announced that the epidemic was over. When it finished, 210 people were infected in 36 states. Ninety-six of them were hospitalized and five died.
Using IBM Food Trust's blockchain technology, "food can be quickly traced back to its origin in seconds instead of days or weeks", required by current manual methods, says the company.
In fact, the New York Times in September, he reported that in a test, IBM Food Trust enabled Walmart, one of the first users of blockchain technology, to reduce the time it takes to trace a packet of sliced mangoes from the shelf to the Mexican farm that has been cultivating it for seven days using existing methods for a few seconds. That month, Walmart announced that it would start asking all suppliers of two green leafy vegetables, spinach and lettuce, to use IBM Food Trust technology by September 2019.
Beyond food security
The French supermarket giant Carrefour is another of the first to adopt IBM Food Trust and its use of blockchain technology is not just about security.
In March, Carrefour announced that it has implemented the tracking blockchain of its Auvergne chickens from the Carrefour quality line. The company sells one million free birds, GMO free each year to French consumers, who "will be able to find out where and how each animal was bred, the name of the farmer, which feed was used ( whether or not they were fed with French cereals and soybeans, with GMO-free products, etc.), which treatments were used (without antibiotics, etc.), any quality labels, where they were slaughtered, etc. " the society.
In France – and in the EU as a whole – where regional product certification is important to consumers and heavily protected by law, technology will allow consumers to scan a QR code on Carrefour quality Auvergne chickens that track every bird farm where it was raised, the company said.
"This is the first in Europe and will offer consumers total guaranteed transparency regarding the traceability of our products," said Laurent Vallée, general secretary of Carrefour and responsible for food quality and safety, in the press release of 6 March.
In July, the company expanded the program to include the Carrefour Quality Line tomato, including detailed information on the farm where the tomatoes were grown and certifying that they have been grown in the ground without herbicides and are collected by hand. Plans are underway to expand the program including eggs, cheese, oranges, salmon and minced meat, among other products.
From blood oranges to blood diamonds
Food is not the only retail product that benefits from the traceability and transparency of blockchain. The diamond and jewelry industry has been under increasing pressure from consumers and governments in recent years to ensure that gems, gold and especially diamonds are not purchased in ways that support civil wars that are often bloody or mined in ways that violate the human rights of workers.
According to a February 2018 report by Human Rights Watch, which for years has been working closely with industry leaders such as the South African diamond giant De Beers Group, the efforts made so far have been "poorly implemented", "inadequate" and "weak" . ".
In May, De Beers announced that the blockchain technology of his Tracr project was used to track 100 high-value diamonds "as they moved from the mine to the cutter and polisher, then to a jeweler".
In October, Russian Alrosa, another giant diamond producer, joined the Tracr project.
"To provide real traceability, diamonds must be tracked from their point of production," said DeBeers Group CEO, Bruce Cleaverat. "We are delighted that Alrosa has joined the Tracr driver, as the collective efforts of the two world's leading diamond manufacturers will allow us to monitor most of the world's diamonds on their journey from the mine to retail."
Leo Jakobson is a New York journalist who has spent most of the past 15 years dealing with the employee engagement and recognition business. He previously covered the eastern part of the boom and the Internet bankruptcy and wrote about politics in New York City. Disclosure: Jakobson does not possess cryptocurrencies.
