Open Food Chain Uses Cardano for Verifiable Sustainability Claims

Open Food Chain is using Cardano as a verification layer for digital product passports that connect food products with supporting origin, sustainability and supply chain records.

The Cardano Foundation highlighted the implementation in its August activity report as European Union rules targeting misleading environmental marketing move toward application on September 27.

Open Food Chain Connects Products With Verifiable Records

Open Food Chain provides blockchain infrastructure for food supply chains, allowing producers and brands to turn certificates, supplier information and traceability data into digital product passports.

Consumers can access the passport through a QR code on product packaging without installing a dedicated application. Records can include product origin, batch details, certifications and supply chain history.

Its Claims Monitor links sustainability and origin statements with supporting documentation, review status and the organization responsible for the information.

Published records can then be anchored on Cardano, creating a tamper-evident history of the information presented with the product.

This brings data that may otherwise remain spread across supplier systems, certificates and separate documents into a single verifiable interface.

EU Rules Raise the Standard for Environmental Marketing

The EU's Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive strengthens consumer protections against greenwashing and misleading sustainability information.

Member states were required to transpose the rules by March 27, 2026, with the measures applying from September 27.

The framework introduces tighter restrictions on generic environmental statements and sustainability labels that cannot be properly substantiated.

Open Food Chain provides infrastructure for linking those statements with supporting records, while responsibility for their regulatory validity remains with the company making them.

Cardano provides the integrity layer, recording what information was published and allowing third parties to verify whether the anchored record has been altered.

Cardano Moves Into Consumer-Facing Food Traceability

Digital Product Passports have become one of the Cardano Foundation's enterprise use cases for verifiable product data. Open Food Chain applies that model directly to food supply chains.6

The platform reports implementations involving cacao, olive oil, fish and juice, while its infrastructure supports standards including GS1 Digital Link for connecting physical products with digital records.

The blockchain layer remains largely invisible to the person scanning the package. Buyers, auditors and consumers interact with the product passport, while Cardano operates behind it as the verification layer.

From September 27, companies operating under the new EU rules will face stricter requirements around how environmental information is supported and presented. Open Food Chain places that evidence directly alongside the product, with Cardano securing the record behind it.