I have been tempted for the last few years to look into creating a free food fraud database.
I have worked all of my career in various different plants that are at a high risk for EM food fraud - Chocolate, Flavorings / Spices, and Honey..
I have used the Trello Database, and have been searching other places by hand for various information - Decided that If I have to do the work anyway for my plant, might as well figure out a way to get the work online so that others do not need to.
From what I can tell, most databases are expensive, and the free ones are not easily used or very robust.
Here is the idea - Have a filterable / searchable database with info entered in on FF/FD incidents with Country, State, (city?), Name of supplier, Name of ingredient / Ingredient Categories (standardized to FDA system?), and some basic incident details / categories, and a link or reference to source of report.
Problem is, unless I can figure out some grants, advertising, donations, etc or other way to get assistance in paying for it, I would be footing the hosting, building, and data entry time and fees myself. I am OK with this to an extent, however would like it to eventually be able to cover its cost while still remaining free to use. I think the information is important enough to be freely accessible to food safety professionals in order to further the industry.
I guess I am looking for information on:
- How much interest there would be for an actual data aggregate website for food fraud / food defense incidents that is free - May be ugly, may not be the easiest, best looking, feature full website or database ever, but usable?
- What is the most important useful data / setup? What is nice but not needed? What is absolutely needed for searching.
- Thoughts on having a form for submissions for folks to assist with adding incidents - however these would be reviewed before being added.
- In order to try to keep upkeep, add features, etc - Would you think you, or your company would be willing to get a subscription, donate, or sponsor with no additional benefits? Or maybe just an addition on a thank you page?
Just kicking around an idea I had from struggles of being the food safety / SQF person and seeing constant requests for information for databases on here. Fill a need, not spend too much time or money on it, and keep it as free and accessible as possible - and to keep it this way as long as possible.