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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

#71

Post by eps »

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.

Try dunking it into truffled honey.

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

#72

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

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…

From my memory of reading Real Food, Fake Food, they don't care about the term "parmesan"--that term has been rendered generic, much like "champagne" in the US. But "Parmigiano Reggiano" is a protected term with a PDO ("protected designation of origin"). That's the one they care about.

[0]https://www.amazon.com/Real-Food-Youre-Eating-About/dp/16162...

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

#74

Post by zepearl »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #65
arebop wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Right, but the whole point here is that central authorities authenticate the cheese

So your comment + the ones upstream mean that the consortium "Parmigiano Reggiano" could just handle the whole thing with their own "private & classical" database?

If yes then that would mean that anybody that deals with "Parmigiano Reggiano"-based-products would have to request some kind of access (userid&pwd, or some ssl-certificate, etc...) and submit transactions (basically like a mini-bank only for this specific type of cheese)?

If yes then a blockchain-based approach might be in some way better? You would have to emit many-smaller-cheese-coins when you produce your stuff and in order to do that you would have to consume a big-cheese-coin (which you received when you bought the big piece of cheese that you used to manufacture pizzas etc that you produce).

Not sure about what I wrote - I might be overthinking some things and overlooking some other things... :P I did mine a few fractions of BTCs many years ago, but the blockchain is still not easy at all to understand for me.

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

#76

Post by denton-scratch »

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…

> a wholly unique cheese

Not unique - there's a cheese-shop up the road that sells a mature Gruyère that is quite different from their standard-price Gruyère, which in turn is quite unlike supermarket Gruyère. And that's all on the Swiss side of the border - Comté is the same stuff, but made 100 metres away.

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

#77

Post by chrisseaton »

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…

And American Cheddar and British Cheddar.

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

#78

Post by karaterobot »

peoplefromibiza wrote: post #53
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 s…

That sounds like the former, to be honest. What I meant was, is there a black market of the big wheels of fake parmesan, with forged serial numbers, claiming to be approved by whatever body controls the name Parmigiano Reggiano. A plastic bag of grated cheese that says "100% grated parmesan" feels like it's not trying to claim to be real Parmigiano Reggiano. I can see why a Consortium would want to impose a strict definition in order to protect their product.

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

#79

Post by lsaferite »

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.

Eating large chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano off of a large wheel is AMAZING.

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

#80

Post by robonerd »

zepearl wrote: post #74
yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but the whole point here is that central authorities authenticate the cheese

So your comment + the ones upstream mean that the consortium "Parmigiano Reggiano" could just handle the whole thing with their own "private & classical" database? If yes then that would mean that anybody that deals with "Parmigiano Reggiano"-based-products would have to request some kind of access (userid&pwd, or some ssl-certificate, etc...) and submit transactions (basically like a mini-bank only for this specific…

> If yes then that would mean that anybody that deals with "Parmigiano Reggiano"-based-products would have to request some kind of access (userid&pwd, or some ssl-certificate, etc...) and submit transactions (basically like a mini-bank only for this specific type of cheese)?

They need a fancy scanner and the right software to verify these embedded trackers anyway. Just sell scanners configured to verify the cheese to anybody that cares to verify their cheese.

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