Alibaba takes action against counterfeiting and begins using blockchain to combat food fraud

In fact, food fraud is a long-standing problem. Fake soy sauce, rice and eggs have been found to contain carcinogens and even endanger people's lives. Now, Chinese Internet and e-commerce giant Alibaba hopes to combat food fraud by using blockchain technology.

Jack Ma's $270 billion e-commerce company announced today that it will begin piloting the use of a digital ledger system, or blockchain, a giant global spreadsheet, to track food as it moves through global supply chains. Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall, giant marketplaces with 443 million active shoppers, will use the system to verify the authenticity of food, thereby weeding out fakes from the market.

The system will first be applied to products imported into China from Australia and New Zealand, and will eventually be expanded to Alibaba's global trade market.

Alibaba did not detail how its shoppers would verify the authenticity of food products.

Fighting counterfeiters

Ms Zhou, managing director and general manager of Alibaba Australia and New Zealand, said: "It was a natural decision for us to start with Australia and New Zealand, given their strong regulatory environment and their status as the world's most successful exporters of food and beverages. We see the Australian and New Zealand markets as having established an integrity framework in the food supply chain, setting a great example for the rest of the world in terms of safety and quality."

There is no set start date for the program, which will be rolled out in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Blackmores and Australia Post.

Alibaba has been criticized for years for counterfeit items sold by third-party vendors, including some bootleg DVDs and designer handbags. Jack Ma, the boss of China's second-largest technology company, also called on China today to strengthen its crackdown and punishment on counterfeit products. He wrote on social media: "Counterfeiting is a low-risk crime, so it is very difficult to regulate. It is very difficult to create a society without counterfeit products. To effectively combat counterfeiting, we must formulate more effective and stricter regulatory terms or laws, such as a seven-day prison sentence for manufacturing or selling a counterfeit product. This will promote great improvements in the world's intellectual property enforcement, food safety and innovation capabilities."

Blockchain technology is increasingly being used by some technology companies, financial institutions and other fields.

In terms of tracking the food supply chain, blockchain can store the DNA data of steaks imported from Australia on the blockchain platform. This process was described as "digital marking" in an article titled "Burgers on the Blockchain" in Bitcoin magazine. Using blockchain technology to record the source data of food can ensure the authenticity of the product throughout its life cycle.

“Once the food is on the retailer’s shelf, consumers can use their mobile phones to scan the QR code on the food packaging to get food safety information about the product, including all the details about where the food came from,” the article’s authors explain.

This is the basic theory of the system. This is also Alibaba’s first step in adopting blockchain technology.