Purpose: To present a mobile-based and web-based authentication services software enabling consumers of imported foods seamlessly connect with legitimate producers worldwide to authenticate and guarantee ‘fitness for consumption’ at the purchase point.
Methods: The authentication services enabling technologies used included Mobile Phone, Short Message Service (SMS), SMS Gateway (Kannel), Ozeki SMS Gateway, and Web Server. The software used 3-tier architecture - HTML (front-end – user interface); PHP (middleware); and MySQL (back-end running on apache database using phpMyAdmin). UML tools were used to model the system. The server is called by Kannel, processes requests via HTTP, stores what is necessary, and calls Kannel to issue a response SMS in a process that could also be done by Ozeki SMS Gateway. Apache uses a database system/engine to verify and store data while the data is passed via http get parameter responses.
Results: Result obtained by scratching a label on the food container to reveal its pin; entering the pin on a specific mobile or web application and submitting or, texting the pin using mobile phone to a particular shortcode; and getting a response confirming the authenticity of the product. Once used, the pin is sent encrypted to cloud computing servers where it is computed and the response is sent to the user for decision-making.
Significance: Reduces the mortality and morbidity or extreme health challenges caused by the intake of irresistible imported foods that are substandard/spoiled, improperly labeled, and containing harmful levels of preservatives, thereby improving the consumers’ health status for less susceptibility to foodborne pathogens.