informatics Article IGR Token-Raw Material and Ingredient Certification of Recipe Based Foods Using Smart Contracts Ricardo Borges dos Santos 1,* , Nunzio Marco Torrisi 1 and Erick Reyann Kasai Yamada 1 and Rodrigo Palucci Pantoni 2 1 Center of Mathematics, Computing and Cognition, Federal University of ABC, Campus São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo 09606-070, Brazil; nunzio.torrisi@ufabc.edu.br (N.M.T.); erick.yamada@aluno.ufabc.edu.br (E.R.K.Y.) 2 Department of Eletrical Engineering and Computer Science, Federal Institute of São Paulo, Campus Sertãozinho, São Paulo 14169-263, Brazil; rpantoni@ifsp.edu.br * Correspondence: ricardo.borges@ufabc.edu.br; Tel.: +55-11-97699-8217 Received: 24 November 2018; Accepted: 28 February 2019; Published: 11 March 2019   Abstract: The use of smart contracts and blockchain tokens to implement a consumer trustworthy ingredient certification scheme for commingled foods, i.e., recipe based, food products is described. The proposed framework allows ingredients that carry any desired property (including social or environmental customer perceived value) to be certified by any certification authority, at the moment of harvest or extraction, using the IGR Ethereum token. The mechanism involves the transfer of tokens containing the internet url published at the authority’s web site from the farmer all along the supply chain to the final consumer at each transfer of custody of the ingredient using the Cricital Tracking Event/Key Data Elements (CTE/KDE) philosophy of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). This allows the end consumer to easily inspect and be assured of the origin of the ingredient by means of a mobile application. A successful code implementation of the framework was deployed, tested and is running as a beta version on the Ethereum live blockchain as the IGR token. The main contribution of the framework is the possibility to ensure the true origin of any instance or lot of ingredient within a recipe to the customer, without harming the food processor legitimate right to protect its recipes and suppliers. Keywords: food traceability; smart contracts; ingredient certification; Ethereum token; commingled foods; supply chain; intellectual property; recipe management; full chain traceability; solidity; ERC-20 1. Introduction: The Need for Traceability of Food Ingredients The European Union ([1] p. 8) defines “food traceability” as “the ability to trace and follow a food, feed, food-producing animal or substance intended to be, or expected to be incorporated into a food or feed, through all stages of production, processing and distribution”. Traceability is needed to enable consumers, regulators, production and marketing actors in the foods supply chains to react to potential risks in food and feed, and to make sure that all food products within a certain territory are safe for consumption. A significant number of food poisoning related cases are investigated by official health departments and reported each year, affecting dozens of million people. Food services and restaurant chains suffer every year from lost sales through loss of consumer confidence as a result of such outbreaks. Another common problem which may put consumers at risk and that could be reduced by reliable food traceability systems is food fraud [2]. Food fraud is a common type of crime which typically abuses the consumer by mislabeling food items in order to induce consumer purchase Informatics 2019, 6, 11; doi:10.3390/informatics6010011 www.mdpi.com/journal/informatics