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Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

foodandwine.com

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Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#51

Post by lupire »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #45
rocqua wrote: post #22

I am all for trademarks. But 'only things made here can have this name' is silly protectionism. Adding electronics to 'fix fraud' really is just worsening the original product. If this goes through I would prefer the fraudulent stuff over the real deal.

> is silly protectionism It's not silly. It's protecting the buyers from frauds. Parmigiano-Reggiano is made in Emilia Romagna, in the Parma-Reggio (Emilia) area. That's the only real deal. Like Champagne which is made only in the Champagne wine region in France. If it's not from there, it's not the same product. It might even be better according to personal taste, for example I prefer Franciacorta, which is from Fra…

Is there a quality control board, or does making the product in the area confer magical powers to the product?

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#53

Post by peoplefromibiza »

karaterobot wrote: post #43

> according to the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium (the official trade group for the cheese) the amount of fraud is almost as big as product sales: Authentic Parmigiano Reggiano sales are around $2.44 billion while fraudulent cheese is a $2.08 billion market. I wonder what they consider fraud. Is it that anything which says "parmesan cheese" on it without being official Parmigiano Reggiano is considered fraud? That is…

I believe it's the latter.

> the FDA investigated a cheese factory in Pennsylvania and found that the cheese it was selling as “100% grated parmesan” was actually cut with fillers like wood pulp and contained exactly 0% real Parmesan cheese, using instead cheaper varieties like Swiss and cheddar. That particular producer was busted and heavily fined due to a tip-off from a former employee, but similar practices are still widespread.

> According to Nicola Bertinelli, President of the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Consortium, which works to promote authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano and fight counterfeit versions, the estimated turnover of fake parmesan worldwide is over 2 billion dollars annually — more than 15 times the amount of genuine Parmigiano-Reggiano exported each year

You won't find much fake Parmigiano here in Italy, which is their largest market (IMO the amount of fake Parmigiano in Italy is so insignificant that we can count it as zero).

There are other varieties, like for example Grana Padano, which are legit alternatives, but don't pretend to be Parmigiano Reggiano.

It would be like trying to sell a fake Ferrari here or a fake Tullamore D.E.W. in Ireland.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#54

Post by pineconewarrior »

vfclists wrote: post #6

If you consume the piece of the rind which has the tracker in it and it gets stuck in some crevice in your bowels how long are you going to be trackable as a piece of Parma cheese? How degradable are they?

They appear to be visible on the edge as stickers. I don't think they are hidden within the rind.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#55

Post by arebop »

lupire wrote: post #48
zepearl wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

:) I didn't understand it either. Maybe the blockchain crypto-anchor that creates a digital 'twin' for physical items would then create that "anchor" (like creating a bitcoin) that can then be linked (traced back) to its source (and intermediate steps like reselling/processing) when the cheese is finally sold in some form?

That works even if you remove the "Blockchain".

Only if you have a trusted central database. With blockchain you can move your cheese independent of central authority.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#56

Post by pcrh »

blamazon wrote: post #40
jihadjihad wrote: post #25

OT, but I just have to say, as someone who buys "Parmesan" cheese that typically hails from Wisconsin, there is just no comparison with legit Parmigiano-Reggiano. It's the same with "Gruyere" and Gruyère -- a wholly unique cheese with a depth of flavor and character that is just inimitable, no matter how good or faithful the imitation may be. That being said, I'm not ashamed at all to say that the Parmesan I use most…

My most common consumption method for Parmigiano-Reggiano is standing in front of my fridge at 2am breaking chunks off the wedge, with a squeeze bottle of honey and whatever berries I have on hand. Can recommend.

Boris, is that you? Get to work!

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#57

Post by ethbr0 »

lupire wrote: post #48
zepearl wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

:) I didn't understand it either. Maybe the blockchain crypto-anchor that creates a digital 'twin' for physical items would then create that "anchor" (like creating a bitcoin) that can then be linked (traced back) to its source (and intermediate steps like reselling/processing) when the cheese is finally sold in some form?

That works even if you remove the "Blockchain".

> That works even if you remove the "Blockchain".

That's a key criteria for being Web 3.0. Now basically, the only new principal involved is that instead of value being generated by the relative motion of conductors and fluxes, it is produced by the modial interaction of magneto-reluctance and capacitive-interactance... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7G7xOG2Ag

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#58

Post by alephxyz »

vfclists wrote: post #6

If you consume the piece of the rind which has the tracker in it and it gets stuck in some crevice in your bowels how long are you going to be trackable as a piece of Parma cheese? How degradable are they?

That's just making the job of future archeologists easier :)

On a serious note, the half-life in acidic solutions (which might include stomach acid) is 1 day according to the link shared by perihelions.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#59

Post by gg80 »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #45
rocqua wrote: post #22

I am all for trademarks. But 'only things made here can have this name' is silly protectionism. Adding electronics to 'fix fraud' really is just worsening the original product. If this goes through I would prefer the fraudulent stuff over the real deal.

> is silly protectionism It's not silly. It's protecting the buyers from frauds. Parmigiano-Reggiano is made in Emilia Romagna, in the Parma-Reggio (Emilia) area. That's the only real deal. Like Champagne which is made only in the Champagne wine region in France. If it's not from there, it's not the same product. It might even be better according to personal taste, for example I prefer Franciacorta, which is from Fra…

Actually it’s made in Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, part of Bologna and part of Mantua.

Re: Parmigiano Reggiano makers embedding tiny trackers in rind to fight cheese fraud

#60

Post by [deleted] »

FourHand451 wrote: post #5
tragictrash wrote: post #3

How is this considered food safe? Chewing it will definitely break any casing on the device, right? The other thing I'd like to point out is that these can be copied. They aren't like a yubikey which responds to a challenge with an internal asymmetric private key.

Typically you don't eat the rind on this kind of cheese.

[deleted]
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