Blockchain to Save People’s Lives By Tracing Food Supply 

In 2017 the CDC reported that an outbreak of E. coli was spreading throughout the US. Apparently, the cause was due to romaine lettuce which had been tainted with the dangerous disease. The CDC urged Americans to immediately stop eating romaine lettuce, as the source of the outbreak had yet to be identified. The outbreak resulted in hundreds of businesses removing products with romaine from their shelves, whether there was any sign of these products being tainted with E. coli or not. Eventually, the source of the outbreak was found, and the nationwide scare finally came to an end. Unfortunately, not much was learned from the outbreak in 2017. In 2018, the CDC again reported an E. coli outbreak. Again, a handful of people became sick, and stores were forced to remove foods containing romaine from their shelves and throw them away. For two years in a row now, millions of dollars have been wasted and many left sick due to our inability to track the food we eat. The E. coli outbreaks of 2017 and 2018 are nothing new. There have been countless examples worldwide of large-scale recalls due to people getting sick after ingesting foods, which at some point in the supply chain became tainted with some harmful substance. Such examples can be seen through the China milk scandal of 2008 or the 2007 pet food recalls, both of which had ties to the harmful compound melamine. With 2019 just starting, it seems there may finally be a solution to this now too common problem. The solution is blockchain, the technology popularized by bitcoin. Although Bitcoin has seen better days, blockchain might just be the solution needed to put an end to any food-related outbreak whatsoever.

Bringing About Transparency with Blockchain

Although gaining popularity through its use with cryptocurrencies, blockchain is now finding multiple uses in business to business operations. Its use of a distributed digital ledger provides greater transparency for consumers and company shareholders. As a product makes its way through a supply chain, each and every change is uploaded to the blockchain. If at some point a food begins to make people sick, ideally, a blockchain can be looked back at in order to identify the source. This would allow for millions of dollars and potentially a significant amount of lives to be saved in the process.

Let us take a look at romaine lettuce for an example. Say there are three points in the supply chain. The producer, packager, and retailer. The producer would be able to upload information concerning romaine onto a blockchain. This could include, weight, type, weather conditions, or any other information that would be deemed valuable. At the next point in the chain, which would be packaging, details concerning packaging materials, romaine condition, and other defining aspects of romaine at that point in the chain could further be identified and uploaded. Finally, at the last link in the chain, the retailer would be able to look back at all the available data and make additions when and where necessary. If at any point an outbreak were to occur, the blockchain could be looked over in order to quickly identify the source. Although this is a hypothetical example, businesses are already beginning to apply blockchain technology to their supply chains.

Walmart Begins Requiring Suppliers to Utilize Blockchain

After the E. coli outbreak of 2018, one of the largest retailers in the US, Walmart, began researching and developing their own blockchain solution. In September of the same year, Walmart sent out letters to their leafy green suppliers informing them that if they wished to continue working with Walmart that they would need to implement blockchain into their systems. According to the letter, Walmart’s “suppliers are expected to work within their vertical systems or with their suppliers to enable end-to-end traceability back to farm by September 30, 2019.” That means Walmart’s suppliers will have until September of this year to ensure their blockchain systems are in order. With the power of blockchain in their hands, Walmart will eventually be able to stop the spread of future romaine related E. coli outbreaks simply by identifying the source through the chain. Not only will this help save lives, but it will also help in identifying which regions these outbreaks stem from, thereby allowing Walmart to remove only tainted romaine from their shelves. Ultimately, this service will most likely be expanded by Walmart to include other foods, beverages, and products. Ideally, it will be made available to customers so they can see where their food has been and what has been done to it. This is just one case in which blockchain can be a useful tool. There are many other industries in which blockchain technology can be applied to provide a more transparent supply chain.

What Does Blockchain Bring to the Table?

As shown above, Walmart has begun taking the necessary steps to avoid any future food safety incident. By improving food traceability with the use of blockchain, Walmart is setting the new standard for food safety. 2017 and 2018 were two terrible years as far as food contamination is concerned. For far too long have consumers and retailers been victims to the outdated food traceability systems in place. Distributed ledger technology, provided by blockchain, holds the keys to unlocking safer food supply chain management. With this new technology, food poisoning can be reduced, ultimately being a product of the past. An interesting step by Walmart is that it is requiring its suppliers to adopt the technology, thereby ensuring that its blockchain will be running by the end of 2019. Mass adoption is one of the major steps that must be taken in order for blockchain to be successful. Its success depends on transparency and communication in the chain, which means if one point in the supply chain fails, so do all the rest. The mass adoption of blockchain technology could result in a wide variety of positive changes to businesses and consumers. Now that Walmart is leading the way, we can only hope that other businesses will soon follow suit.

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