E. Coli Outbreak In The US Prompts FDA To Consider Blockchain Tracking
Blockchain technology has proved time and again that it is a brilliant tool that can be used to track food items and ensure their quality is being maintained.
(Read more about: How blockchain technology has been used in tracking Turkey)
Which is why it comes as no surprise, that following an outbreak of E. coli in the United States, due to possible consumption of romaine lettuce, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of America is eyeing blockchain technology to be implemented in tracking and tracing the food supply of this lettuce.
FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, has spoken publicly about what he feels is the problem here and how blockchain could be a crucial preventive measure. He says that use of blockchain technology in any food-related epidemics can ensure that the issuse can be traced to a specific distributor, farm or grower in the supply chain, thereby isolating the problem. This will help NDA nip the problem in the bud.
(Read more about: How Fakefoods is tracking food safety through blockchain)
FDA announced that they had hired Frank Yiannas, the vice president of food safety at Walmart, as its foods and veterinary medicine deputy commissioner. He will bring his expertise to the table along with new track-and-trace tools. Gottlieb said,
“We have a guy starting… the former head of food safety at Walmart who is going to be coming to the FDA to help us put in place among other things better track and trace using tools like blockchain maybe to even do track-and-trace on the food supply chain,”
Back in September, BTC Wires had reported how retail giant Walmart planned to implement blockchain technology to trace leafy greens. There too, Yiannas made a major contribution in ensuring that this plan was followed through and that it was successful. Walmart had given all of its suppliers one year to ensure that they were prepared to fall in line with this new policy of the company.
At the time, Yiannas said,
“In the future, using the technology we’re requiring, a customer could potentially scan a bag of salad and know with certainty where it came from,”