Blockchain May Help Walmart Stop Bad Food

Mention blockchain, and many people think of bitcoin, the digital currency that relies on blockchain's database technology to track transactions and provide a secure alternative to conventional money. Walmart Stores, however, is using blockchain's ability to catalog huge amounts of behind-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bloomberg businessweek (Online) 2016-11, p.20
Main Author: Kharif, Olga
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Blockchain
Digital currencies
Discount department stores
Supply chains
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Mention blockchain, and many people think of bitcoin, the digital currency that relies on blockchain's database technology to track transactions and provide a secure alternative to conventional money. Walmart Stores, however, is using blockchain's ability to catalog huge amounts of behind-the-scenes data for a meat-and-potatoes purpose: identifying and removing food that's been recalled. Like most merchants, the world's largest retailer occasionally struggles to deal with tainted, food. When a customer becomes ill, it can take days to identify the product, shipment, and responsible vendor. More than 1,000 outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are investigated by state and local health departments each year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Walmart has been at the forefront of technologies before. More than de ago, it was an early adopter of wireless radio-frequency identification tags, requiring big suppliers to put in shipping crates and pallets to better manage inventory across its supply chain.
ISSN:0007-7135
2162-657X