In Arkansas, Walmart and Sam’s Club sent a letter to suppliers of fresh, leafy greens asking them to trace their products all the way back to the farm using blockchain technology and have systems in place within a year. This change means that the information gathered by these suppliers will be open and accessible through technology that offers real-time, end-to-end traceability from farm to table.
This year, many customers and grocers were forced to throw away large amounts of romaine lettuce when an E. coli contamination in romaine lettuce spread through the food industry. “But it was difficult for consumers to know how to determine where their lettuce was grown,” explained Frank Yiannas, VP of Food Safety at Walmart.
Blockchain allows for the digitized sharing of data in a secure and trusted way. Instead of taking a week to find information about a potential contamination, blockchain tracking takes only seconds.