ChainSCAN: A Blockchain-Based Supply Chain Alerting Framework for Food Safety

Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems provide a digital platform for the supply chain organizations to communicate and exchange information. In the food industry, SCMs provide the essential software components for monitoring food transportation and product handling. However, contemporary SCM systems suffer from non-traceability, noninteroperability and poor resiliency. Global food supply chains are at risks from cyber threats, which will lead to food shortages and poor quality control. In this paper, we present ChainSCAN, a three-layer design of a fully decentralized and blockchain-based SCM system that protects data security, privacy, and remove single point of failures of traditional SCMs. In addition, ChainSCAN provides a transparent environment to protect physical security of assets from stolen and record all activities of the food supply chain. ChainSCAN leverages four smart contracts to automate and regulate interactions of supply chain participants with the ledger, which can enforce the best practices among all supply chain organizations. Furthermore, ChainSCAN contains a notification system that automatically alerts consumers about food recalls and/or potential misbehaviors.