Food safety and food security are connected concepts that have a significant impact on the quality of human life, and both of these areas are influenced by a variety of external circumstances. These concepts are of great importance for the health of consumers, and experts in various fields are constantly trying to cope with any challenges met across the food supply chain.
More precisely, food safety is a process that involves a variety of activities completed by people who come into contact with various forms of food at various development and operation stages throughout the world, in order to achieve a fixed food safety standard that meets both general and specific requirements. The potential problems associated with the world’s population growth underlined the vital role of all actors in resolving food safety issues, including producers, distributors, consumers, government agencies, scientists, and medical experts. Food safety culture is mirrored in an organization’s technological and managerial aspects, as well as in its personnel and working environments. Food safety should include a variety of management strategies, including the regular monitoring and surveillance of food production, in order to improve public health and avoid foodborne infections.
In contrast, the notion of food security ensures that everyone has access to appropriate, secure, and healthy food in order to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. The determinants of IoT that facilitate data generation and collection, such as electronic control, smart contracts, policy enhancement, and the use of radiofrequency identification (RFID), are argued to be critical enablers for a motivated food security system, food safety, and environmental sustainability.
Food waste reduction and appropriate waste management mitigate the negative environmental impacts of food waste, preserve economic resources, and promote food security.
Food safety is a fundamental right in modern societies. One of the most pressing problems nowadays is the provenance of food and food-related products that citizens consume, mainly due to several food scares and the globalization of food markets, which has resulted in food supply chains that extend beyond nations or even continent boundaries. Food supply networks are characterized by high complexity and a lack of openness. There is a critical requirement for applying novel techniques to verify and authenticate the origin, quality parameters, and transfer/storage details associated with food. This study portrays an end-to-end approach to enhance the security of the food supply chain and thus increase the trustfulness of the food industry. The system aims at increasing the transparency of food supply chain monitoring systems through securing all components that those consist of.
A universal information monitoring scheme based on blockchain technology ensures the integrity of collected data, a self-sovereign identity approach for all supply chain actors ensures the minimization of single points of failure, and finally, a security mechanism, that is based on the use of new nascent technology, is embedded in monitoring devices to mitigate a significant portion of malicious behavior from actors in the supply chain.
Moreover, blockchain technology may be used to enhance the following functions in food supply chains:
• Track the flow of goods along with the supply chain
• Logistics tracking, e.g., orders, receipts, and shipping alerts
• Attributing certifications and characteristics to products
• Connecting items to their serial numbers or digital tags
• Sharing vital information across the product’s assembly, distribution, and maintenance.
The use of blockchain technology is one step forward in the right direction, as it ensures the security of the system upon which end nodes interact.
Conclusion
Transparency is a hot topic these days, particularly among customers, as a result of outbreaks of foodborne illness, food adulteration, and fraud.
Transparency in the supply chain compels businesses to select how transparent they choose to be. Businesses must first obtain insight into their internal rules and regulations before increasing transparency for consumers and partners. This greater visibility may assist in mitigating supply chain risks to employees, the company’s manufacturing skills, and ultimately customers. It is also critical for the subsequent phases of the growth of sustainable supply chains, which involve increasing information exchange, deeper collaboration with partners and competitors.
Transparency in terms of blockchain food traceability may help to confirming and identifying the origin of food, as well as increasing brand confidence.
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Antonio Bana, environmental criminal law attorney, partner Bana Avvocati Associati
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