IBM has just announced a new iPhone application called Breadcrumbs, which will give consumers detailed information about food when they scan the barcode of packages in the grocery store.  While some of the features of the soon-to-be-released app sound  useful, such as checking for product recalls, I’m suspicious about how thoroughly the program will actually be allow you to “follow your food from farm to fork” as the tagline suggests.

Most grocery items that are printed with a barcode usually contain a long list of ingredients, many of which have passed through a number processing and distribution centers, making traceability a daunting, if not impossible task.  One hope is that upon learning more about the tangled web of the industrial food system, shoppers will be more inclined to purchase items that can be more clearly tracked, particularly when they can learn more about the farmer that actually grew the food, rather than a mysterious supply chain. 

I’m always in favor of arming consumers with as much information as possible, and if the app can help reduce the number of people getting sick from salmonella, e. coli or other food borne illnesses, I think it will be extremely worthwhile.  I’d love to see the developers take the program further though by providing users with more information about the environmental impact of their food choice, similar to the new carbon footprint labels in Sweden, or educate them on how fairly the workers were treated or compensated for producing the food.

Breadcrumbs has great potential to help consumers make smart choices in the grocery store, I just hope it doesn’t prove to be more confusing than useful.