As Walmart opened its new Walmart Food Safety Collaboration Center in Beijing today IBM, Walmart and Tsinghua University announced a collaboration to improve the way food is tracked, transported and sold to consumers across China.
Food authentication and supply chain tracking is a critical step to quickly finding and helping address sources of contamination around the world. Early indications are the blockchain presents an innovative new way to accomplish these goals.
It provides a permanent record of transactions which are then grouped in blocks that cannot be altered. It could serve as an alternative to traditional paper tracking and manual inspection systems, which can leave supply chains vulnerable to inaccuracies.
By harnessing the power of blockchain technology designed to generate transparency and efficiency and supply chain record-keeping, this work aims to help enhance the safety of food on the table to Chinese consumers.
With blockchain, food products can be digitally tracked from an ecosystem of suppliers to store shelves and ultimately to consumers. When applied to the food supply chain, digital product information such as farm origination details, batch numbers, factory and processing data, expiration dates, storage temperatures and shipping detail are digitally connected to food items in the information is entered into the blockchain along every step of the process.
Each piece of information provides critical data points that could potentially reveal food safety issues with the product. The information captured in each transaction as agreed upon by all members of the business network: once there is a consensus, it becomes a permanent record that can’t be altered.
This helps assure that all information about the item is accurate. The record created by the blockchain can also help retailers better manage the shelflife of products and individual stores, and further strengthen safeguards related to food authenticity.
“China’s rapid economic growth has led to massive opportunities for innovation, but it has also presented quality of life challenges, including helping to assure that food sold in the country is safe to eat,” said professor Chai Yueting from the National Engineering Laboratory for E-Commerce Technologies, Tsinghua University. “Similarly, we have been working with IBM on projects such as Green Horizons to address environmental challenges. Tsinghua University is also committed to in-depth research of food safety – one of the most important areas that the world is focusing on. We believe the work with IBM and Walmart can serve as a global model for others to follow and replicate.”
You can learn more about IBM blockchain technology here.
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