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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

#121
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

Because irrational fears aren't driven by in depth analysis they are driven by fitting in with a theme. If people play telephone pretty soon the tracking chips instead of being in the rind will be said to be in the cheese and either they will be used to remotely terminate undesirables* or tracked from a satellite. * People who put too much salt in their sauce.

[flagged]

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

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because irrational fears aren't driven by in depth analysis they are driven by fitting in with a theme. If people play telephone pretty soon the tracking chips instead of being in the rind will be said to be in the cheese and either they will be used to remotely terminate undesirables* or tracked from a satellite. * People who put too much salt in their sauce.

Information is the only way to shed light on lies. If you have to hide information, you’re just adding to the lies

There's nothing wrong with incorporating how someone is likely to use information when determining which information to share with them. I'm no Kantian.

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

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can get good canned tomatoes (I like the Flora brand San Marzano D.O.P, about $5.50 for a 28oz can), this is a great 20 minute recipe that will usually beat any pre-made sauce: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015987-classic-marinara...

Canned tomatoes? Yikes. If you’re trying to beat premise sauces at least get some local fresh tomatoes and have a go and making it from scratch. The acidic flavour of canned tomatoes is horrible in my opinion compared to fresh tomatoes.

For the ~1 month I have access to local fresh tomatoes, I'm going to be eating them in fresh preparations like caprese salad, BLTs, etc. rather than using them on sauces. The remaining 11 months of the year, canned tomatoes are just fine.

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

#124

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.

There's plenty of great American cheddars that are as good as anything I've had from the UK.

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

#125

Well I hope there's a way to remove those trackers, I always put the rinds in soups and stuff so it would piss me off a lot to learn there's some non-food related stuff in it.

Presumably it's embedded in the wax, which is already non-food and can be cut off.

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

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can get good canned tomatoes (I like the Flora brand San Marzano D.O.P, about $5.50 for a 28oz can), this is a great 20 minute recipe that will usually beat any pre-made sauce: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015987-classic-marinara...

Canned tomatoes? Yikes. If you’re trying to beat premise sauces at least get some local fresh tomatoes and have a go and making it from scratch. The acidic flavour of canned tomatoes is horrible in my opinion compared to fresh tomatoes.

Fresh tomatoes are Usally pretty bland 11 months of the year. So canned is the way to go because they are ripe when canned and retain most of the flavors

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

#127
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the fact about them being coops and having the ability to borrow with their cheese as collateral. It is so old world and so wholesome. I'd like to borrow against my cheese one day.

You can borrow against most assets you own. Margin in your stock account, a mortgage or HELOC, etc. Credit cards are essentially based on your ability to repay much like borrowing against your future cheese revenue.

Modern finance and accounting more-or-less started in Renaissance Italy. Double-entry bookkeeping meant merchants and bankers kept good books. Good books and good accounting made negotiable instruments like bills of exchange (e.g. checks) and letters of credit reliable--at least when drawn on or issued by Italian banks and their partners around the continent--which meant travelers and traders didn't need to carry alot of currency or gold (dangerous), or resort to barter. Negotiable instruments in turn built up foreign exchange markets. Foreign exchange markets grew foreign financing. Larger, more liquid financing markets meant it became easier to borrow against assets (i.e. security). And on and on.

Much of modern transactional banking and securities law became settled during that period, eventually becoming nearly universal across disparate legal regimes around the world.

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

#128

I found technical details about the device: https://www.isenet.it/product/pharmaseq-products/ It's tiny (500 microns), passive, photocell-powered (you point a laser at it), and encapsulated in an inert SiO2 coating.

Fascinating -- https://p-chip.com/solutions/

And the patent -- https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/bf/71/15/70b4303...

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

#129
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the fact about them being coops and having the ability to borrow with their cheese as collateral. It is so old world and so wholesome. I'd like to borrow against my cheese one day.

You can borrow against most assets you own. Margin in your stock account, a mortgage or HELOC, etc. Credit cards are essentially based on your ability to repay much like borrowing against your future cheese revenue.

Those are all different things and different forms of borrowing though.

When someone borrows against cheese they are borrowing against existing personal property for which labor has already been supplied rather than borrowing against future earnings. The lender does not need to verify income and credit, just inspect the purity of the cheese. With a home loan, the owner is borrowing against the personal property in the building, as well as the common property in the land and the future earnings of other people such as their tenants.

Additionally in the case of a co-op, the interest charges the organization collects on the debt are usually reinvested locally for the benefit members.

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

#130
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?

Also if they are optically powered with a laser, you'd notice if someone was trying to light it up while it was inside of you. :)
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