Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 75651 Uppsala, Sweden.
Sensors (Basel). 2023 Jun 5;23(11):5342. doi: 10.3390/s23115342.
Due to recurring food quality and safety issues, growing segments of consumers, especially in developed markets, and regulators in agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) require a fast and trustworthy system to retrieve necessary information on their food products. With the existing centralized traceability systems used in AFSCs, it is difficult to acquire full traceability information, and there are risks of information loss and data tampering. To address these challenges, research on the application of blockchain technology (BCT) for traceability systems in the agri-food sector is increasing, and startup companies have emerged in recent years. However, there have been only a limited number of reviews on the application of BCT in the agriculture sector, especially those that focus on the BCT-based traceability of agricultural goods. To bridge this knowledge gap, we reviewed 78 studies that integrated BCT into traceability systems in AFSCs and additional relevant papers, mapping out the main types of food traceability information. The findings indicated that the existing BCT-based traceability systems focus more on fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy, and milk. A BCT-based traceability system enables one to develop and implement a decentralized, immutable, transparent, and reliable system in which process automation facilitates the monitoring of real-time data and decision-making activities. We also mapped out the main traceability information, key information providers, and challenges and benefits of the BCT-based traceability systems in AFSCs. These helped to design, develop, and implement BCT-based traceability systems, which, in turn, will contribute to the transition to smart AFSC systems. This study comprehensively illustrated that implementing BCT-based traceability systems also has important, positive implications for improving AFSC management, e.g., reductions in food loss and food recall incidents and the achievement of the United Nations SDGs (1, 3, 5, 9, 12). This will contribute to existing knowledge and be useful for academicians, managers, and practitioners in AFSCs, as well as policymakers.
由于食品质量和安全问题反复出现，越来越多的消费者，尤其是发达市场的消费者，以及农业食品供应链（AFSCs）的监管机构，都要求有一种快速、可靠的系统来检索其食品产品的必要信息。在 AFSCs 中使用现有的集中式可追溯性系统，很难获取完整的可追溯性信息，并且存在信息丢失和数据篡改的风险。为了解决这些挑战，对区块链技术（BCT）在农业食品领域的可追溯性系统的应用的研究越来越多，近年来出现了一些初创公司。然而，关于 BCT 在农业领域的应用，特别是那些专注于农产品的基于 BCT 的可追溯性的评论，数量有限。为了弥合这一知识差距，我们回顾了 78 项将 BCT 整合到 AFSCs 可追溯性系统中的研究以及其他相关论文，梳理了主要类型的食品可追溯性信息。研究结果表明，现有的基于 BCT 的可追溯性系统更侧重于水果和蔬菜、肉类、奶制品和牛奶。基于 BCT 的可追溯性系统可以开发和实施一个去中心化、不可变、透明和可靠的系统，在这个系统中，流程自动化有助于实时数据的监控和决策活动。我们还梳理了 AFSCs 中基于 BCT 的可追溯性系统的主要可追溯性信息、主要信息提供者以及面临的挑战和收益。这些有助于设计、开发和实施基于 BCT 的可追溯性系统，从而有助于向智能 AFSC 系统过渡。本研究全面说明了，实施基于 BCT 的可追溯性系统对改善 AFSC 管理也具有重要的积极意义，例如减少食品损失和食品召回事件，以及实现联合国可持续发展目标（1、3、5、9、12）。这将有助于丰富现有知识，对农业食品供应链的学者、管理者和从业者以及政策制定者都很有用。
