When was the last time you were worried about the reputation of your brand image due to product recalls?
How vividly could you trace the product journey for assessing food hazards?
How can we analyse risks in the supply chain?”
The answer is to follow the pathway of transparency from farm to fork for better food safety.
Health and food safety:
Food safety worries have become a major global problem. Food is one of the basic necessities of life, so it’s essential to ensure that it contains adequate nutrients to support health. Food-borne illnesses are on the rise, and WHO estimates that roughly 1 in 10 people worldwide get sick from consuming contaminated food. The health and well-being of people are ensured by maintaining food safety standards. Events of the German e-coli outbreak and the horse meat scandal act as an eye-opener in providing a means to detect food fraud through a traceable pathway. The recent regulation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) insists on record-keeping requirements to facilitate better tracking of food hazards.
Since the right to a healthy diet is essential to human existence, substantial restrictions must be implemented to guarantee food safety. This should be viewed as every country’s top priority. Finding the source of raw materials is made easier with supply chain traceability & intelligence software, and the farm-to-fork concept protects the integrity of food products.
Traceability and food fraud detection:
Food fraud is rampant in different parts of the world and may take different forms such as mislabelling, adulteration, misrepresenting place of origin or providing inadequate nutritional information. It also occurs with enabling crimes like document fraud, corruption, and other methods to speed up border crossings and evade food safety inspections. One of the most promising technological developments for food fraud detection is blockchain.
How blockchain embedded traceability technology helps with identifying food fraud?
With the help of blockchain, a digital record of every food transaction can be created, making it simpler to identify the source of a crime and its effects. This is significant in a world where food safety is a pressing concern.
Data that is stored in the blockchain cannot be tampered with and remains a record of communication with definite time stamps that help in determining malpractices and render better visibility to the supply chain. The supply chain may be managed more effectively for food safety and quality requirements with improved transparency via blockchain, reducing the potential for fraudsters to enter the agri-food system.
Traceability as an end- to- end visibility tool for food fraud identification:
An end-to-end traceability system helps track the product’s supply chain from farm to fork and identify issues related to food safety, making the process of recalling food more manageable in the long run. Food traceability system acts as an effective “track and trace system” and benefits the agri-food industry in the following ways:
- Source identification: As the food supply chain becomes more complex and global in scope, traceability is more important than ever. Due to the increased complexity, a system and method must be in place in case of a food safety issue. If it does, traceability will help you identify the source of the problem and the scope of any potential occurrence.
- Saves Brand image: Traceability protects brand reputation by facilitating quicker product recalls and preserving the firm’s reputation. By traceability, which also helps food processors and, in some instances, entire sectors recover more rapidly and protect health and safety, the public’s trust in the product, business, sector, and food supply is restored.
- Renders end-to-end visibility to the supply chain:
Blockchain and other cutting-edge technologies can assist retailers in keeping track of suppliers, minimising crises, and remaining competitive, as globalisation makes the food supply chain more complex. Acquiring a more reliable source of information could draw in conscientious customers and keep the business ethical. Blockchain technology is already being incorporated into supply chain management and logistics strategies by major retailers. - Compliance with regulations:
Regulations are growing worldwide, concentrating on various businesses and addressing problems like origin, quality, sustainability standards, and product authenticity. Traceability systems can demonstrate that companies are upholding their compliance procedures safeguarding the supply chain from document fraud, human rights violations, and corruption. Whether it comes to food safety regulations, ESG-related documentation, EU DD Law, or the German Supply chain act, adhering to rules and the right to good food is a fundamental human right. The farm-to-fork story supports certification processes, and RightOrigins by CIED offers a traceability solution with blockchain integration that helps to highlight trust in food.
Transparency is critical to the food safety management system:
Traceability showcases the product journey, and transparency helps build trust among consumers and regulatory agencies. As we fast transition to a more data-driven society aimed at responsible sourcing, the data we use to exhibit food fraud detection must be public and traceable. We can confirm that our data has been ethically sourced and that decision-makers use accurate information when making crucial decisions for information tracking by following data from its source to its destination.