How to fix food supply chains with blockchain based traceability — Part 2. Antimicrobial resistance, overuse of antibiotics
The problem
In both the developed and developing world, antibiotics are widely used as growth supplements for livestock. An estimated 80% of antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used in animals, primarily to promote growth and to prevent infection. Treating livestock with antimicrobials is said to improve the overall health of the animals, producing larger yields and a higher-quality product. The antibiotics used in livestock are ingested by humans when they consume food. The transfer of resistant bacteria to humans by farm animals was first noted more than 35 years ago, when high rates of antibiotic resistance were found in the intestinal flora of both farm animals and farmers. More recently, molecular detection methods have demonstrated that resistant bacteria in farm animals reach consumers through meat products. This occurs through the following sequence of events:
- antibiotic use in food-producing animals kills or suppresses susceptible bacteria, allowing antibiotic-resistant bacteria to thrive;
- resistant bacteria are transmitted to humans through the food supply;
- these bacteria can cause infections in humans that may lead to adverse health consequences. Up to 90% of the antibiotics given to livestock are excreted in urine and stool which is widely used as dispersed fertilizer, contaminating the surface and ground waters.
The main problem is that antibiotic usage has negative consequences as well:
- Antibiotics increase fatal diarrhea cases in children
- Antibiotics can upset sensitive gut flora
- Antibiotics help teach good bacteria to go bad
- Antibiotics are helping drive up dug and hospital costs
Average medical costs per patient in case of an antibiotic-resistant infection can be in the range of $18,588 and $29,069 in dollars, totaling $20 billion in health care costs each year only in the U.S., according to estimates from the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics at Tufts University. Drug-resistant infections have the potential to cause a level of economic damage similar to — and likely worse than — that caused by the 2008 financial crisis, according to a new report by the World Bank Group (“Drug Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future”). The research shows that a high-case scenario of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) — where antibiotics and other antimicrobial dugs no longer treat infections the way they are supposed to — could cause low-income, developing countries to lose more than 5% of their GDP and push up to 28 million people into poverty by 2050. And unlike the financial crisis of 2008, there would be no prospects for a cyclical recovery in the medium term, as the costly impact of AMR would persist.
How TE-FOOD can help
Antibiotic traceability subsystem
TE-FOOD’s blockchain based farm management subsystem enables farmers to manage their feeding and vaccination information. We trace with special attention the usage of antibiotics in the life cycle of the livestock. The antibiotic traceability is based on the exact inventory of the farmers. Because the vaccination information will be transparent in the logistics of the livestock, the participant in the supply chain can get accurate information about the former step’s antibiotics usage, so the double vaccination can be avoided. This results cost saving for them, and the lower level of antibiotics residual in fresh meat can improve global health.
TE-FOOD is going to implement blockchain, and tokenize its operation. Pre-sale is planned for November, 2017.
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