Abstract
The use of smart contracts and blockchain tokens to implement a consumer trustworthy ingredient certification scheme for commingled foods, i.e., recipe based, food products is described. The proposed framework allows ingredients that carry any desired property (including social or environmental customer perceived value) to be certified by any certification authority, at the moment of harvest or extraction, using the IGR Ethereum token. The mechanism involves the transfer of tokens containing the internet url published at the authority’s web site from the farmer all along the supply chain to the final consumer at each transfer of custody of the ingredient using the Cricital Tracking Event/Key Data Elements (CTE/KDE) philosophy of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). This allows the end consumer to easily inspect and be assured of the origin of the ingredient by means of a mobile application. A successful code implementation of the framework was deployed, tested and is running as a beta version on the Ethereum live blockchain as the IGR token. The main contribution of the framework is the possibility to ensure the true origin of any instance or lot of ingredient within a recipe to the customer, without harming the food processor legitimate right to protect its recipes and suppliers.
Highlights
The Need for Traceability of Food IngredientsThe European Union ([1] p. 8) defines “food traceability” as “the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of production, processing and distribution”
It proposes a food ingredient certification framework capable of maintaining the non disclosure of business sensitive data for foods that derive from commingling operations using the blockchain
In order for the final consumer to be able to check if a certain lot carries certified ingredients via Ingredient Token (IGR) tokens, the stock keeping unit (SKU) GTIN-13 identification, alongside the lot validity date will generate a public key in the Ethereum blockchain
Summary
The European Union ([1] p. 8) defines “food traceability” as “the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of production, processing and distribution”. In several cases [5,6,7,8], food unsafe for human consumption was, according to their manufacturers, quickly identified and isolated This protected consumer health from food poisoning risks and consumer good faith from counterfeit, malicious information or fraud, albeit without a third party certification and with significant costs. Increasing interest of consumers in tracing any type of goods, including foods, the specific case of recipe based foods, rather than just believing in the claims on the labels; The commingler’s legitimate right to protect their business sensitive information concerning these recipes and suppliers. This paper investigates the traceability requirements in recipe based foods and proposes an alternative solution to full chain traceability It proposes a food ingredient certification framework capable of maintaining the non disclosure of business sensitive data for foods that derive from commingling operations using the blockchain.
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