Interview with Prof Chris Elliott OBE, Queens University

we connect everything - ubloquity

In this episode Dom caught up with Professor Chris Elliott OBE - a globally renowned expert in food fraud and has investigated the complexity of supply chain networks for more than 30 years.
He has published more than 300 papers in the field of detection and control of chemical contaminants in agri-food commodities and co-ordinated one of the world’s largest research project in this area (www.BioCop.org). He also co-ordinated another major EU research project QSAFFE which is dealt with contaminant issues along the animal feed supply chain.

Chris led the UK government’s independent review of food systems following the 2013 Horsemeat scandal.
He says a major issue for consumers is that we don't really know what we're eating. We don't know where it comes from. And we don't know how it's produced. And because of all of those factors, there is a general mistrust about the food industry.
However developments in technology are beginning to change that, and a coalition of the good are using data and the blockchain to link up supply networks, enabling more visibility, and forensic investigations into any areas of concern. Increasingly this will make it harder for fraudsters to operate in the food sector, as any changes to a product in that blockchain are detected early.
Companies not adopting this tech will be put under the spotlight and asked why. Why aren't you getting on board, what have you got to hide.
He admits when Kieran Kelly, the co-founder of ubloquity first raised the idea of blockchain seven years ago he hazed over! But over the years he has understood it is about digitising supply networks, joining it all together as blocks on the chain. And you can have multiple companies, multiple actors involved in the harvesting, in the manufacture, the processing, the transportation, the storage, joined up, helping bring them all together.
Each of those actors in that supply chain network has a responsibility to input data, and once it's in there, you can't move it. It then greatly reduces the wriggle room for fraudsters, as you can't claim to be doing something that actually you're not because that information is on that blockchain.

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