Food Supply Chain Traceability Research Articles

The Impact of Blockchain Technology on Transparency and Traceability in the Supply Chain of the Food Industry

Abstract: This thesis explores the revolutionary potential of blockchain technology, emphasizing its implications for improving transparency and traceability. Food safety, authenticity, and sustainability are major issues that the food industry must deal with. These issues can have a big impact on customer confidence and safety. In order to properly handle these issues, traditional supply chain systems frequently lack the traceability and transparency features that are required. But blockchain technology provides a decentralized, immutable database that safely and transparently records transactions, which is a promising option. This study investigates the theoretical underpinnings and real-world uses of blockchain technology while conducting a critical analysis of the state of the food industry's supply chain using secondary data from published academic articles. It assesses the effect of blockchain technology on improving transparency and traceability in food supply chains by combining findings from other academic publications, taking into account elements like data integrity, information sharing, and stakeholder participation. This thesis emphasizes how blockchain technology has the possibility to revolutionize supply chain transparency and traceability in the food business. Through the utilization of blockchain's intrinsic characteristics, such decentralization and cryptographic security, stakeholders can augment consumer trust, alleviate hazards, and cultivate increased accountability along the food supply chain

Enhancing Food Integrity through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: A Comprehensive Review

Herein, we examined the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) as new fronts in addressing some of the pertinent challenges posed by food integrity to human and animal health. In recent times, AI and ML, along with other Industry 4.0 technologies such as big data, blockchain, virtual reality, and the internet of things (IoT), have found profound applications within nearly all dimensions of the food industry with a key focus on enhancing food safety and quality and improving the resilience of the food supply chain. This paper provides an accessible scrutiny of these technologies (in particular, AI and ML) in relation to food integrity and gives a summary of their current advancements and applications within the field. Key areas of emphasis include the application of AI and ML in quality control and inspection, food fraud detection, process control, risk assessments, prediction, and management, and supply chain traceability, amongst other critical issues addressed. Based on the literature reviewed herein, the utilization of AI and ML in the food industry has unequivocally led to improved standards of food integrity and consequently enhanced public health and consumer trust, as well as boosting the resilience of the food supply chain. While these applications demonstrate significant promise, the paper also acknowledges some of the challenges associated with the domain-specific implementation of AI in the field of food integrity. The paper further examines the prospects and orientations, underscoring the significance of overcoming the obstacles in order to fully harness the capabilities of AI and ML in safeguarding the integrity of the food system.

Geographical origin discrimination of lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora) leaf powder using near-infrared hyperspectral imaging

Lemon myrtle (LM), Backhousia citriodora, is a popular flavouring agent and herbal tea from Australia. To ensure traceability and consumer trust in global food supply chain, rapid and non-destructive tools are crucial. In this study, hyperspectral images were acquired from 91 L M samples sourced from three different origins (Malaysia, Queensland, and New South Wales (Australia)), within 950–2500 nm range. Classification models were developed using linear partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) with two approaches, pixel-based (trained by all spectral data points) and sample-based (trained by average spectrum). All models achieved classification accuracies above 96%. The sample-based PLS-DA model, trained by mean-centring transformed data, demonstrated the highest discriminatory performance. Both approaches show potential for LM origin classification, but the sample-based model is more suitable for automated and rapid industry applications due to its shorter calculation time. However, additional spectral data acquisition is necessary to improve the model and fully explore its capabilities and limitations.

The Use of Enterprise Information Systems and IoT Technologies for Traceability in Food Supply Chain: A Study in Greek Food Companies

The Use of Enterprise Information Systems and IoT Technologies for Traceability in Food Supply Chain: A Study in Greek Food Companies

A Review on Blockchain Based Traceability in Organic Food Supply Chain

A Review on Blockchain Based Traceability in Organic Food Supply Chain

E-FARMER Agriculture and Rural Development Using Block Chain Technology

The efficiency, validity, and health of many essential criteria in the food and agricultural supply chain are receiving more attention as a result of the globalisation of industrial and agricultural production. Due to the increasing risks to food safety and corruption, there is a great need for effective traceability solutions. These solutions serve as crucial quality management tools, guaranteeing the safety of the products across the agricultural supply chain. Block chain is a cutting-edge technological approach that yields groundbreaking results for commodity traceability in food supply chains and agriculture. Today's agricultural supply chains are intricate ecosystems that involve a number of stakeholders, making it challenging to validate a number of important needs, mostly related to yield monitoring, crop growth stages, compliance with quality standards, and the nation of first origin. In order to manage crop prices and traceability, this study suggests a system that levitates the block chain and efficiently executes business operations across the agricultural supply chain. The suggested framework method improves effective science and safety with high integrity and dependability by doing away with the necessity for intermediaries, centralised authorities, and records of the transactions. All transactions are first recorded, after which they are kept in the immutable ledger of the block chain and connected to a decentralised network. This ensures a robust, dependable, and effective supply chain ecosystem with a high degree of traceability and transparency. Keywords: Blockchain technology, Agriculture, Supply chain, Traceability, Food safety.

Food Supply Chain Traceability System Based on Blockchain Technology

In recent years, with the Internet industrys development, more and more industries are developing in a more informative and transparent direction, especially traceability system. The databases of traditional supply chain traceability systems are all relational (RDBMS). The data is easy to be lost and tampered with. This shortcoming is particularly obvious in the food processing product supply chain traceability system. The data of each supply chain sector is stored in different databases. When regulatory authorities conduct information investigation and traceability, they must search multiple databases. The steps could be more convenient and easier to hold accountable by using the blockchain technology. A supply chain traceability system based on blockchain technology is designed to respond to these problems. The supply chain traceability system for processed food products is taken as an example to implement. This system is developed on the hyperledger fabric (HLF) platform, which realizes decentralization and tamper-proof, one-click traceability of the complete information and other functions. Consumers can not only query the whole process information of the food supply chain but also lodge complaints and defend their rights in this system.

Dual-Layer Index for Efficient Traceability Query of Food Supply Chain Based on Blockchain.

Blockchain techniques have been introduced to achieve decentralized and transparent traceability systems, which are critical components of food supply chains. Academia and industry have tried to enhance the efficiency of blockchain-based food supply chain traceability queries. However, the cost of traceability queries remains high. In this paper, we propose a dual-layer index structure for optimizing traceability queries in blockchain, which consists of an external and an internal index. The dual-layer index structure accelerates the external block jump and internal transaction search while preserving the original characteristics of the blockchain. We establish an experimental environment by modeling the blockchain storage module for extensive simulation experiments. The results show that although the dual-layer index structure introduces a little extra storage and construction time, it significantly improves the efficiency of traceability queries. Specifically, the dual-layer index improves the traceability query rate by seven to eight times compared with that of the original blockchain.

Static Evaluation of a Midimew Connected Torus Network for Next Generation Supercomputers

Many artificially intelligent systems solve complex health- and agriculture-related problems that require great computational power. Such systems are used for tracking medical records, genome sequence analysis, image-based plant disease detection, food supply chain traceability, and photosynthesis simulation. Massively parallel computers (MPCs) are among those used to solve these computation-intensive problems. MPCs comprise a million nodes; connecting such a large number of nodes is a daunting task. Therefore, hierarchical interconnection networks (HINs) have been introduced to solve this problem. A midimew-connected torus network (MTN) is a HIN that has basic modules (BM) as torus networks that are connected hierarchically by midimew links. This paper presents the performance of MTNs in terms of static topological parameters and cost-effectiveness, as measured through simulations. An MTN was compared with other networks, including mesh, torus, TESH, TTN, MMN, and TFBN. The results showed that our MTN had a low diameter with a high bisection width and arc connectivity. In addition, our MTN had a high cost–performance trade-off factor (CPTF), a high cost-effective factor (CEF), low packing density, and moderate message-traffic density with marginally higher costs, as compared to other networks, due to wire complexity. However, our MTN provided better bandwidth with higher static fault tolerance. Therefore, MTNs are suggested for further evaluation of the effective implementation of MPCs.

An Ethereum-Based Distributed Application for Enhancing Food Supply Chain Traceability

In today's era, humanity has been overwhelmed by technological revolutions that have changed and will continue to change how business operations are performed, directly or indirectly. At the same time, the processes within the supply chain are quite complex, and as technology and processes evolve, they become more and more challenging. Traceability has become a critical issue in the food industry to ensure safety, quality, and compliance with regulations. The adoption of blockchain technology in the food supply chain has gained significant attention as a potential solution to improve traceability. This paper presents the development of a distributed application for table olives' traceability on the Ethereum network. The paper also presents a methodological framework, which can help anyone aiming to implement an Ethereum decentralized application and demonstrates the practical use of the developed application by a Greek table olives producer. The application significantly improved the producer's product traceability by providing a secure, transparent, and efficient solution for tracking and tracing the products in the supply chain. The app reduced the time, increased the accuracy and reliability of data, improved supply chain efficiency, and helped the producer comply with international regulations and standards.

DEAGRICHAIN Blockchain-based solution for agriculture

This research aims to develop a decentralized application (Dapp) for food supply chain traceability using blockchain technology. The Dapp enables consumers to track the journey of their food from the farm to their table, providing transparency and accountability to the supply chain. The Dapp is built on a blockchain platform using smart contracts to record and verify transactions between various stakeholders in the supply chain, including farmers, distributors, retailers, and consumers. Each stakeholder will have a unique identifier on the blockchain, and all transactions will be recorded in a tamper-proof and immutable manner. This work will contribute to the development of a more sustainable and trustworthy food supply chain, promoting ethical and environmentally friendly production practices. The Dapp will also provide opportunities for small-scale farmers and local producers to access larger markets and improve their profitability. Overall, this Dapp will help to create a more efficient, transparent, and accountable supply chain, benefiting all stakeholders, including suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and consumers.

Emerging Perspectives of Blockchains in Food Supply Chain Traceability Based on Patent Analysis

In the field of blockchain (BC) technology application in the food supply chain (FSC), a patent portfolio is collected, described, and analyzed using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) modeling, with the aim of obtaining insight into technology trends in this emerging and promising field. A patent portfolio consisting of 82 documents was extracted from patent databases using PatSnap software. The analysis of latent topics using LDA indicates that inventions related to the application of BCs in FSCs are patented in four key areas: (A) BC-supported tracing and tracking in FSCs; (B) devices and methods supporting application of BCs in FSCs; (C) combining BCs and other ICT technologies in FSC; and (D) BC-supported trading in FSCs. Patenting of BC technology applications in FSCs started during the second decade of the 21st century. Consequently, patent forward citation has been relatively low, while the family size confirms that application of BCs in FSCs is not yet widely accepted. A significant increase in the number of patent applications was registered after 2019, indicating that the number of potential users in FSCs is expected to grow over time. The largest numbers of patents originate from China, India, and the US.

Design and implementation of the food supply chain traceability system based on the blockchain

Traditional enterprise-level food supply chain traceability systems are notoriously expensive and complex to set up, but there is a solution that can successfully address both of these problems: the food supply chain traceability system. This study, on the other hand, suggests a blockchain-based food supply chain traceability system business system. The paper is concerned with the food supply chain traceability system. The authentication and authorization procedures, traffic scheduling, and settlement monitoring are examples of some of the operations that make use of the blockchain infrastructure. In the meanwhile, the throughput of the system is increased by making improvements to the consensus method. Users of this system can provide customized service needs for food supply chain traceability systems by using this system. The issue of locking up the system in the food supply chain traceability system is successfully solved by the system, which embodies a great deal of application potential inside the food supply chain traceability system.

A blockchain-enabled security framework for smart agriculture

Food consumers are more concerned about transparency, accountability, contamination risks, food safety, and food quality. Thus, an overwhelming demand of a traceability solution is required to address the food consumers’ concerns. Blockchain is a promising technique to maintain product traceability in the agricultural food supply chain. The paper proposes a framework which uses the concept of blockchain smart contracts. All the entities engaged in the blockchain-based supply chain network handle the transaction between parties. All transactions are recorded to maintain high transparency and traceability across the supply chain ecosystem. In the event of abuse detection, a group signature mechanism is used. Three metrics, transaction efficiency, system risk reduction, and trust between participants, are considered for testing the system’s overall performance. After implementing the framework, the transaction efficiency is measured in terms of gas cost, average execution time, throughput and latency. These parameters show the satisfactory system performance.

The Impacts of Government Subsidies and Consumer Preferences on Food Supply Chain Traceability under Different Power Structures

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sustainability of the food supply chain (FSC) was greatly challenged. Enterprises and governments have taken various measures to enhance the resilience of the FSC and to achieve sustainable development. Product traceability systems are an important tool for improving the resilience of the FSC and for dealing with its risks. In this study, we developed a two-stage supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a retailer to investigate how government subsidies, power structures, and consumer preferences affect the decisions involved with FSC traceability. Manufacturer–Stackelberg (MS) and retailer–Stackelberg (RS) power structures—with and without government subsidies—were constructed using game theory, and the equilibrium solutions of the four models were compared and analyzed. The research shows that (i) government subsidies have a positive effect on FSC traceability investments, benefiting both the manufacturer and the retailer; (ii) a retailer-dominated supply chain is more conducive to product traceability, which will benefit the retailer, and when the consumer traceability preference reaches a certain threshold, the manufacturer will also benefit; and (iii) government subsidies have a significant incentivizing effect on retailer-dominated supply chain traceability. Finally, we provide an example to analyze and compare the differences between decision-making processes and profits under various consumer preference scenarios. In conclusion, the government should provide subsidies, and the retailer needs to dominate the supply chain and improve consumer traceability preferences. The research in this paper provides insight into the implementation of traceability in the FSC for management.

Assessing the role of organic food supply chain traceability on food safety and consumer wellbeing: A mediated-moderation investigation.

Drawing on dynamic capabilities theory, this study offers a comprehensive framework for examining the relationships between organic food supply chain traceability, consumer wellbeing, and food safety trust based in organic food sector. The study also explores how consumer awareness of organic food influences the relationship between consumer wellbeing and food safety. We also look at a mediated moderation mechanism in the relationships stated earlier. Using a survey as the primary data collecting method, a total of 221 usable responses were collected. To test the hypothesized relationships between all variables, SPSS PROCESS Macro 3.3 is utilized. The findings show that the organic food traceability OFSC affect food safety trust and food safety and consumer wellbeing are positively associated, while consumer awareness of organic food acts as a moderator on the relationship between food safety trust and consumer wellbeing. Also consumer awareness conditionally influences the strength of the indirect relationship between OFST and consumer wellbeing via food safety, thereby indicates a mediated moderation mechanism among the study variables. This study clarifies how consumer food safety trust and organic food traceability can enhance their wellbeing. It contributes to the theory of dynamic capabilities as well as organic traceable product marketing strategies.

Modeling traceability in food supply chain

PurposeCurrently, digital technology has been proposed as a new archetype for developing an effective traceability system in the perishable food supply chain (FSC). Implementation of such a system needs significant investment and the burden lies with the members of the supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact on the profit of the supply chain members due to the implementation of an effective traceability system with such a large investment. The study also tries to explore the impact of the implementation of such a system by coordination among the members through a cost-sharing mechanism.Design/methodology/approachA two-level supply chain that comprises a supplier and retailer is analyzed using a game-theoretic approach. The mathematical models are developed considering the scenario for an individual, centralized and both members invest using a cost-sharing mechanism. For each of the models, the impact of product selling price, information sensing price and quality improvement level on profit is analyzed through numerical analysis.FindingsThe study reveals that consumer involvement can be a strong motivation for the supply chain members to initiate investment in the traceability system. Further, from an investment perspective cost-sharing model is beneficial compared to the individual investment-bearing model. This mechanism can coordinate as well as benefit the FSC members. However, the model is less beneficial to the centralized model from profit and quality improvement levels.Practical implicationsFood wastage can be less from supplier and retailer perspectives. Moreover, consumers can purchase food items only after verifying their shipping conditions. Consequently the food safety scandals can be reduced remarkably.Originality/valueDigital technology adoption in the perishable FSC is still considered emerging. The present study helps organizations to implement a traceability system in the perishable FSC through consumer involvement and a cost-sharing mechanism.

Application of Blockchain Technology in Fresh Food Supply Chain Under COVID-19 Environment in China

Food safety is a vital issue of public and social concern. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19, frozen fresh food has become the hardest hit area for the spread of the COVID-19. In response to the opaque information, lack of trust, and difficulty in traceability in the fresh food supply chain, the article proposes blockchain technology to address the problem. This paper defines a blockchain technology use case and a quick reference guide to design a blockchain network for the food industry. It improves transparency throughout the supply chain and helps reconcile the documentation and required data with legislation authorities to import cold chain products to certify the quality of the final product. The fresh food supply chain framework can ensure integrity, authenticity, and supply chain information. This design is of great significance to ensure the traceability of the fresh food supply chain.

Impact of Traceability Technology Adoption in Food Supply Chain Networks

Improving traceability in food supply chains has been a big part of ongoing effort to reduce contamination risks and food waste. Recent technology advancement such as blockchain technology has propelled innovative retailers to promote food traceability system adoption in their supply chains. We develop a three-tier supply chain model with multiple upstream (tier 2) suppliers to investigate how traceability technology adoption affects incentives of supply chain members and whether and how its anticipated benefits can be realized. We find that full traceability brings direct revenue benefit to every supply chain member by saving uncontaminated food from disposal (pure traceability effect) but also leaves each tier of the supply chain vulnerable to its immediate downstream buyer’s exploitation through strategically lowering the purchasing price (strategic pricing effect). The interplay of the two effects may result in some of the supply chain members (even the retailer) being worse off with traceability adoption and the system being exposed to higher contamination risk; the latter is because of the weakened upstream supplier’s incentive to exert contamination risk-reduction effort. Moreover, we find that the supply chain network structure also influences the benefit distribution of traceability adoption: The retailer always benefits from traceability adoption in network structures where the tier 1 supplier’s strategic pricing power is eliminated or weakened; all supply chain members benefit from traceability adoption in a network with a large number of tier 2 suppliers. Finally, we show that alternative risk-mitigation schemes such as tier 2 coordination can diminish the value of traceability adoption, and partial traceability enabled by tier 1 product inspection can be more beneficial to the retailer than full traceability. This paper was accepted by Victor Martínez-de-Albéniz, operations management. Supplemental Material: The online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4440 .

Voluntary traceability in food supply chain: a framework leading its implementation in Agriculture 4.0

Today, the world faces a big challenge about food quality and safety. Consumers are becoming more careful during their food choices, focusing on food information. Drawing on the Industry 4.0 technologies and methodologies, food companies could adopt traceability systems that are able to collect various types of information along the food supply chain, to satisfy regulation but also to make their work transparent. With the aim of overcoming the current shortcomings in the food traceability framework (e.g., the absence of data visualisation solutions or tools for supply chain actors and consumers, adopting standards for external traceability and data identification, and fulfilling the four Industry 4.0 development dimensions), and considering the sustainability challenges, the aim of this study is to suggest a Framework for Voluntary Food Traceability based on digital technologies and explore its application by means of a case study in an organic olive oil company. The Framework, composed of three building blocks, allows the company to: map supply chain processes, identifying tasks and processes where data was generated, its format and the supply chain owner; select and use technologies to collect and analyse traceability data; and communicate to the end consumer comprehensible and useful food information.