Albertsons joins the IBM Food Trust network

More than 80 brands have already joined the IBM Food Trust network, and Albertsons—the owner of Randall’s, Safeway, and Tom Thumb supermarkets—is the latest addition, according to an IBM press release.

 The network uses a blockchain to trace food items back to their source in a matter of seconds. Others have followed suit, including Walmart, which requires all of its greens suppliers to participate in the blockchain network following massive recalls of romaine lettuce. European retailer Carrefour has also introduced a blockchain to ascertain the origin of the products it sells.

Earlier this year, IBM announced it had put a shipment of oranges on the blockchain as a trial, reducing "the administrative process of transferring the title deed, from five to seven days to just a second.”