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<h3>Remember Chipotles 2015 incident? When E-Coli outbreak spread across Chipotle restaurants across 11 states which hospitalized more than 20 customers. This is just one of the many reported/ unreported incidents that happen across the world.</h3>
<p>This is what IBM - along with its new Blockchain consortium members that includes Walmart, Unilever, Nestle, Tyson Foods and likes - are planning to resolve using **blockchain based asset tracking solution**.</p>
<p>Brigid McDermott, VP of Blockchain Business Development at IBM says,</p>
<blockquote>The goal is to reduce food safety risk, increase traceability and transparency of the food supply chain, and create a smarter, more efficient, and more trusted global food system. The company plans to introduce a food safety solution built on IBM Blockchain to which food supply chain participants all around the world can connect</blockquote>
<h3>The existing process can be Tediuos and Lenghty</h3>
<p>According to WHO, 1 out of 10 people got affected from food borne disease in 2015, and more than 400,00 people died as a result. In a recent Salmonelia outbreak incident that occured in May 2017 across 19 states in the US affecting 140 people, the source could only be traced two months later in August.</p>
<h3>How IBM is using Blockchain</h3>
<p>Using Blockchain, IBM plans to </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Embed QR code</strong>: Create a network on Blockchain that can help in tracing the origin and supply chain path of any product</li>
<li><strong>Track, Identify and Recall</strong> more precisely the contanimated food across global supply chain </li>
<li><strong>Speedup</strong> the entire process </li>
<li>Impart a sense of <strong>Accountability and Security </strong>for customers</li>
</ul>
<p>The solution is supposed to speedup the global coordination required to isolate contanimated food, stop further delivery and remove products from shelves.</p>
<h3>Farm to Table Blockchain</h3>
<p>In a recent Walmart pilot, it took six days, 18 hours and 26 minutes to trace a package of mangoes to the exact farm of origin. </p>
<p>According to IBM, the consortium of food manufacturers and retailers will use the tech giant's cloud infrastructure platform and Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering to build and participate in a private blockchain network spanning the entire global food supply chain. </p>
<p>Food growers, distributors, suppliers, processors, retailers, regulators, and consumers themselves will have permissioned access to food data on the origin and transaction history of products worldwide. </p>
<p><br></p>
<h3>IBM has built other similar Supply Chain Blockchains to trace the origin in seconds</h3>
<p>IBM has already conducted blockchain pilots across a number of industries around the world including trade, pharma, retail. </p>
<p>In October 2016, Walmart partnered IBM to digitally track the movement of pork in China, a nation which has seen a number of food safety scandals in recent years. <strong>The trials revealed that tracking a product from the very farm it originated from to the retailer’s shelf could be achieved in seconds, rather than days or several weeks</strong>. Such efficiency can help food providers and retailers to trace a contaminated product to its very source in a matter of seconds to issue an effective food recall and stop the spread of diseases and illnesses. </p>
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<p>Sources:</p>
<p>1. PCMAG - http://in.pcmag.com/news/116323/how-a-global-supply-blockchain-could-stop-foodborne-outbreak</p>
<p>2. http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/11/health/papaya-salmonella-outbreak/index.html</p>
<p>3. https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/securing-food-blockchain-walmart-nestle-unilever-partner-ibm/</p>
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<p>Have a nice and safe day ahead</p>
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