How Blockchain Facilitates the Transition toward Circular Economy in the Food Chain?

Food loss and waste are two of the many problems that modern society is facing. To date, among many solutions, the circular economy is the one prevailing. A successful transition toward a circular economy (CE) requires the food sector to overcome the challenges of today's complex food supply chains such as information asymmetry, poor cooperation among stakeholders, and concerns about food safety. Blockchain, a form of distributed ledger technology, has been progressively gaining traction in supply chains in areas like data management, certifying product provenance and tracking products. Despite its importance, knowledge around the potential of the blockchain technology in facilitating the transition towards a circular economy in the agri-food sector is fragmented. This review provides evidence-based insights into the blockchain implementations in the food supply chains and the implications for CE. Our findings indicated four major areas that blockchain could accelerate CE in the agri-food sector: improving data utility; supply chain management efficacy; enhanced eco-efficiency; and superior traceability

Why people follow a gluten-free diet? An application of health behaviour models.

PURPOSE: To understand factors affecting adherence to GFD by celiac and non-celiac people through the application of behavioural theories, Integrative Model (IM) and Multi Theory Model (MTM). METHODS: Analyses were conducted for a sample of 308 subjects, majority females, celiac and non-celiac. Adherence to GFD was measured considering two scales, self-declared adherence and scored adherence, in order to discern possible inconsistencies between what subjects believe and what they really do. Subsequently, adherence to GFD was modelled by considering constructs of MTM and IM. Moreover, the constructs were designed based on literature review. Ordered logit (OL) model was used to test the IM and MTM theoretical models. RESULTS: The findings show that adherence to GFD is affected mainly by attitudes towards GFD, self-efficacy, injunctive norms, knowledge about GFD and perceptions that GF products are expensive. Between the two models, IM and MTM, results show that all constructs of IM explain the behavior. Contrary, for MTM, results indicate only some constructs of the MTM explain adherence to GFD. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study should be considered for improving the adherence to GFD for celiac people. Furthermore, it is important to consider the non-celiac people's perceptions for GFD and GF products. In other words an accurate information about the diet and products it is relevant for supporting people to make healthier food choices. Finally, as the results show, IM explain adherence to GFD better than MTM

Factors affecting consumers' adherence to gluten-free diet, a systematic review

Background: The gluten-free market is expanding rapidly. The reasons for this reflect a growing interest in adopting a gluten-free diet (GFD). This is partly explained by an increasing number of people diagnosed with Celiac Disease (CD), but also because of public perceptions that a GFD is a healthy diet option. However, products specifically marketed as gluten-free (GF) are reduced in several sensorial characteristics, are more expensive, and have lower nutritional values than comparable alternatives. Scope and approach: The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date set of factors that underpin consumers' preferences and adherence to GFD. After screening, 54 articles were considered for the review. Key findings and conclusions: The review classifies the factors affecting GFD in eight groups: “Factors specific to the GFD”; “Socio-demographic factors”; “GF products' factors”; “Psychological Factors”; “Symptoms related to Celiac”; “Celiac Disease's factors”; “Quality of Life”; “Other Factors”. Results on the level of association and significance of the factors affecting adherence to GFD are mixed. Moreover, in the process of reviewing the literature, this review reveals that most of the studies that have investigated factors associated with adherence to GFD are focused primarily on celiac patients while neglecting the fact that many non-celiac adopt the diet. From this we discuss future research directions, and what questions remain unanswered in the domain of adherence to the GFD