Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership

Op-Ed: Blockchain and food processing are more related than you think — here’s how

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By Eliott Atlani, Edited by Maya Rector

Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash
Eliott Atlani is a current UC Berkeley Master of Engineering student in the class of 2018. Majoring in Systems Engineering, Eliott is a member of the R&D Department of Blockchain@Berkeley and he’s currently doing research on the impact of Blockchain on economic systems. After graduation, he plans to start a career in consulting or in the Blockchain industry. In 2013, it was found that in France, Findus (a frozen food multinational company) used horse meat in its lasagnas and claimed that it was beef meat. In other words, the company was lying about the origin of its meat. They found later that companies like Ikea, Lidl, Taco Bell and Nestlé may have used the same fraud, not only in France but in every country in Europe. Given the recent outrage surrounding fraud and the origin of meat, consumers are demanding more transparency about the origin of the meat they buy and its processing. To offer more transparency, retail stores, in collaboration with meat producers, may soon use the emerging technology of Blockchain. Pilot projects led by IBM and Walmart are already on track (Walmart, IBM provide blockchain update).
To offer more transparency, retail stores, in collaboration with meat producers, may soon use the emerging technology of Blockchain.
You may have already heard about Blockchain since it is strongly associated with Bitcoin, the famous cryptocurrency. Currently, Blockchain has been used successfully for cryptocurrencies and financial services, and it could be soon applied for food processing. The Blockchain is a shared database whose critical feature is to be immutable and easily auditable. Once data is registered into the Blockchain it can’t be removed or modified. This immutable ledger is shared between multiples writers, which would include producers, retail stores, and food companies. In practice, the idea would be to use this shared database to record several pieces of information about a piece of food such as:
  • The origin
  • The various owners, including the factory and the producer
  • Its storage temperature
  • Its expiration dates
  • Its shipping dates
This information would be updated each time that a piece of meat changes hands. It would then be able to easily track the lifecycle of every piece of meat, and therefore avoid frauds and scandals by ensuring the quality of meat. If issues were to arise, it would also be easy to identify who is involved when an issue is spotted.
Photo by rawpixel.com on Unsplash
This system would also be particularly valuable for the consumer. For example, customers would be able to check the origin of the meat they buy directly on their smartphones thanks to a flashcode on the blister pack. Thanks to the blockchain immutable feature, the customer would be sure that this information is true and reliable. Finally, thanks to the Blockchain, consumers would have more confidence in their purchases, stores would have more confidence about their suppliers, and scandals such as the one previously cited could be avoided. This system has already been successfully tested in China (The food industry gets an upgrade with blockchain — IBM Blockchain) and Japan with the private Blockchain “Mijin” (Japanese Use Blockchain to Track Game Meat.). Soon, your iPhone may not only be able to answer phone calls, but also check that the food you buy at the store is safe for consumption. References
Op-Ed: Blockchain and food processing are more related than you think — here’s how was originally published in Berkeley Master of Engineering on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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