How Blockchain Can Bring Transparency In The Food Industry

Food safety has always been one of the most common concerns among consumers all over. While buying vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, and other consumables, we always inquire about whether our buy is fresh. However, there is no chance of knowing that for sure. One has to rely on the seller’s word, and there is no way to verify that. Then there is also the issue of diseased food getting circulated in the food supply chains, leading to mass contamination and sickness.

So is there a way to prevent such a food-catastrophe and assure that the food that is being consumed is fresh and healthy? With the use of Blockchain Technology, experts believe that the loopholes in the food supply chain and the industry can be identified and rectified.

Leaving the ideation stage, blockchain is already making its way into the food industry, with the market leaders like Walmart, Carrefour, Unilever, Kroger, Nestle, etc., setting viable examples for others to follow. IBM’s Blockchain solution has been a driving force in this area until now, and they have been associated with some of the industry’s biggest names.

So coming back to this article’s main topic, here are a few ways that blockchain can modernize the food industry.

BRING TRANSPARENCY IN THE FOOD SUPPLY CHAIN

Through the distributed ledger technology, one can keep track of the food items, from the point when it is grown on the farm till it reaches the market. It will keep a digital record of all the food items. The information will be open to the consumers and bring transparency to the whole system, starting from manufacturer or farmer to the consumer. Walmart has already used this technique in a few of their items with the help of IBM.

ENSURE FOOD SAFETY

Contamination and mass illness due to food diseases are not unheard of. Many times it takes the form of an epidemic and even great loss of life. Blockchain allows food traceability, so one knows the origin of the food. Such information is golden in the investigation of foodborne diseases. It helps the suppliers and sellers to trace the contaminated food and stop the distribution immediately.

When applied to the food industry, Blockchain makes it safer and transparent, thus increasing accountability among the ones directly involved with production and supply. Keeping track of all food items, food wastage can also be sorted with the right implementation of blockchain.

By the way, things are progressing; experts believe that by 2025, twenty percent of the global food supply chain will be using blockchain. That’s the appeal of innovative technology.