Walmart's Blockchain Technology Can Give Consumers Product Traceability

On Foodable

You’ve probably heard about blockchain as it was initially developed for, the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. But now the technology in the cryptocurrency context is being developed for the food service industry.Blockchain as defined by Investopedia is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions. Constantly growing as ‘completed’ blocks (the most recent transactions) are recorded and added to it in chronological order, it allows market participants to keep track of digital currency transactions without central record keeping. Each node (a computer connected to the network) gets a copy of the blockchain, which is downloaded automatically.Most recently, In the food service space, blockchain can be seen used by Walmart and Sam’s Club. The grocery giant has been working closely with IBM to create a digitized handheld system that will allow farmers to give consumers full traceability with a produce product.

The blockchain technology is currently open to those in Walmart’s leafy green food supply chain, in an attempt to ease concern with recent outbreaks in lettuce. The system will be used to report to stakeholders where a particular head of lettuce came from, during what harvest, and on what particular farm. Allowing government investigators to have a clearer investigation if a consumer gets sick. As opposed to tracking down the tainted lettuce for days, they can find the source within seconds, ideally meaning less wasted produce, less sick people and boosting confidence in the food system.

Will blockchain technology transform the food industry? Learn more in the video above and read more at “Forbes”!