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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

#141

Post by op00to »

OJFord wrote: post #135
djur wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I don't believe it's not doable, but all I've seen of North American supermarkets is 'cheddar-style' processed cheese and similar abominations; is food-buying just different, does anyone wanting half-decent cheese go to a cheesemonger or farmers' market or something?

You haven’t seen most North American supermarkets, then. Many, many supermarkets except the cheapest of the cheap carry real domestic and imported cheddar for at least 10-15 years.

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

#142

Post by cheese_goddess »

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…

Try aging your supermarket-bought cheese (the non-AOP parmesan and gruyere).

You can do so in your kitchen fridge, but stick the cheeses in a small plastic container with a tight-fitting lid because they need high moisture (at least 70% - and that's relative moisture).

Open the box when you see condensation forming on its walls and wipe it down with a paper towel. Then close it again. That's about all the work you need to do.

Parmesan should improve markedly in about a year. Gruyere in three to six months.

Oh- unwrap them first from any vacuum bags they happen to be in. Cheese doesn't age in a vacuum.

It's fine if they're already sliced. Would be hard to fit in the fridge otherwise anyway. Depending on your fridge.

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

#143

Post by mrsuprawsm »

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…

It's somewhat sad that in the US there is no enforcement (probably entirely deliberately as a protectionary measure) of food marks.

In the EU, "Parmesan" cheese must be legit Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. [1] I'd presume that Grueyere also has the same protections of origin (despite being Swiss and not actually in the EU).

It's the same for a whole plethora of local products [2] and thus consumers know a) what they're actually buying and b) have the confidence that it's a legit product.

[1] https://www.dw.com/en/eu-court-says-parmesan-cheese-must-com... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_PDO_products_by_countr...

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

#145

Post by chihuahua »

robonerd wrote: post #90
peoplefromibiza wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> cut with fillers like wood pulp Label fraud aside, I really don't understand the vitriol that gets directed against grated cheese being sold with cellulose. It's only there to make the cheese shake out better (which it does well, you can buy grated cheese without cellulose to compare it to) And besides, there's nothing wrong with cellulose in the first place. You eat loads of cellulose every time you eat lettuce. S…

It seems to be fashionable to see a corporate conspiracy in everything.

From there, it's just a few more steps before people think that Bill Gates is using the tracking chips in the Parmesan to track people at all times, cackling in his secret underground lair.

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

#146

Post by Rodeoclash »

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…

One lucky thing about living in Melbourne, Australia is the large Italian migrant community here (the largest number of Italian's living outside of Italy, live here).

Meaning that we have few dedicated markets here that import goods from Italy, including legitimate Parmigiano Reggiano (and Pecorino Romano which is worth trying). The real stuff has these wonderful salt crystals in it that crunch as you eat it.

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

#147

Post by OJFord »

op00to wrote: post #141
OJFord wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't believe it's not doable, but all I've seen of North American supermarkets is 'cheddar-style' processed cheese and similar abominations; is food-buying just different, does anyone wanting half-decent cheese go to a cheesemonger or farmers' market or something?

You haven’t seen most North American supermarkets, then. Many, many supermarkets except the cheapest of the cheap carry real domestic and imported cheddar for at least 10-15 years.

No, I haven't! It just stood out in the ones I did.

(I didn't mean the first part as a claim to expertise; the second was a genuine question.)

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

#148

Post by pengaru »

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.

I don't see the problem, it's a sort of collective regional trademark that the makers of this traditional regional cheese carrying this specific branding (and their customers expecting authentic product) benefit from.

If you don't have a problem with the likes of Apple litigating counterfeit products using their trademarked brand, why would you have a problem with this?

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

#149

Post by cycrutchfield »

mrsuprawsm wrote: post #143
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…

It's somewhat sad that in the US there is no enforcement (probably entirely deliberately as a protectionary measure) of food marks. In the EU, "Parmesan" cheese must be legit Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. [1] I'd presume that Grueyere also has the same protections of origin (despite being Swiss and not actually in the EU). It's the same for a whole plethora of local products [2] and thus consumers know a) what they're…

European wine producers were able to get the US to enforce this, after a lot of difficulty. It used to be you could buy Californian “champagne”.
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