Analysis and development of an RFID framework for quality assurance in food supply chains

Abstract

For many years, food-borne diseases have become a universal worry. Until now, numerous diseases have been discovered and it appears that millions of illnesses, thousands of hospitalizations and deaths are caused every year by food-related diseases.

As a consequence, three factors of interest are identified. Food safety guarantees that food is not going to cause harm while food quality assures that the necessary requirements are met. Finally, traceability guarantees the possibility to keep an eye on the movement of food throughout the food supply chain.

The purpose of this Master thesis is to evaluate the capabilities of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology regarding food quality assurance and more precisely safety, quality and traceability from farm to fork.

To assess the capabilities of the RFID in food supply chains, we can rest on previous research done in this specific field of interest. According to the obtained information, a framework showing that the RFID can be used to reach quality assurance of food along the chain and without interruption is established. However, when confronted to the reality, it appears that the framework presents some limitations. Then, the horsemeat scandal which took place in 2013 is examined in order to understand if responsible stakeholders were identified. The framework is applied to it in order to see if the RFID technology could have identified which actor had changed beef for horse meat. Even more importantly, the aim is to see if the scandal could have been avoided while ensuring the quality of meals. Unfortunately, it seems that the RFID alone is not sufficient to avoid such an adulteration.

Finally, companies which want to implement the RFID to ensure quality along the food supply chain have to develop a cooperative project that has a unique objective. Therefore, since the project involves different partners, it can be interesting to show them the steps to follow. Additionally, if they pay real attention to the steps that are considered as success factors, they maximize their chance of success.