IBM blockchain consortium champions food safety

A new blockchain collaboration has been formed to help reduce the number of people falling ill due to contaminated food every year.

A consortium of companies will work with IBM to strengthen consumer confidence in the global food system.

Every year, 10% of people become ill as a consequence of contaminated food, with 400,000 of this number losing their lives. However, it can sometimes take weeks to identify the exact point of the contamination, which can lead to further illness and lost revenue for companies.

Blockchain is helpful in addressing these challenges, because it establishes a trusted environment for all transactions. In the case of the global food supply chain, all participants — growers, suppliers, processors, distributors, retailers, regulators and consumers — can gain access to known and trusted information regarding the origin and state of food for their transactions.

This enables food providers and other members of the ecosystem to use a blockchain network to trace contaminated products to the source in a short amount of time. It also ensures safe removal from store shelves and stems the spread of illnesses.

Dole, Driscoll’s, Golden State Foods, Kroger, McCormick and Company, McLane Company, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Unilever, Walmart and others are now coming together with IBM to further champion blockchain as an enabling technology for the food sector.

“Unlike any technology before it, blockchain is transforming the way like-minded organisations come together and enabling a new level of trust based on a single view of the truth,” said Marie Wieck, general manager, IBM Blockchain.

IBM is introducing the first fully integrated, enterprise-grade production blockchain platform, as well as consulting services, that will allow more organisations to quickly activate their own business networks and access the vital capabilities needed to successfully develop, operate, govern and secure these networks. The IBM Blockchain Platform is available via the IBM Cloud.

In parallel trials in China and the US, IBM and Walmart recently demonstrated that blockchain can be used to track a product from the farm through every stage of the supply chain, right to the retail shelf, in seconds instead of days or weeks.

These trials also demonstrated that stakeholders throughout the global food supply chain view food safety as a collaborative issue, rather than a competitive one, and are willing to work together to improve the food system for everyone.

“Blockchain technology enables a new era of end-to-end transparency in the global food system — equivalent to shining a light on food ecosystem participants that will further promote responsible actions and behaviors,” said Frank Yiannas, vice president, food safety, Walmart.

“It also allows all participants to share information rapidly and with confidence across a strong trusted network. This is critical to ensuring that the global food system remains safe for all.”