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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

#231

Post by SilasX »

nemo44x wrote: post #111
hkt wrote: 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.

You can borrow against most assets whose values are easy to assess and are readily resellable, and which will keep that value, yes. What’s significant here is cheese being in that category. It’s still (like a home or publicly traded stock) the extreme exception, not the rule. I certainly can’t borrow against the cheese in my refrigerator (“fridge”), so it’s weird that you’d trivialize the case of co-op cheese as part of a totally normal trend of being able to borrow against anything.

Most of the stuff in my living room, for example, would not be able to secure a loan, except maybe a pawn loan on undesirable terms.

And it’s really weird to look at credit cards as an example of the same thing. “Your ability to earn and repay” is not generally classified as an “asset” except maybe metaphorically — not a financial/accounting sense.

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

#232

Post by gorgoiler »

hedora wrote: post #214
perihelions wrote: post #2

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.

So, what percentage of these crack open during processing, and how poisonous are they without the sio2 casing? What about when they hit the sewer processing plant, and are eventually dumped. Also, what sort of environmental impact does producing them have? Hopefully they'll be forced to label products that have these things in them. Otherwise, I'll be switching to fake Parmesan.

If you’re eating the rind you probably already have some more basic health issues — those of a mechanical rather than chemical nature.

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

#233

Post by Tabular-Iceberg »

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 wouldn’t mind the knock-offs so much if they actually made an effort to replicate the taste and texture.

While you could make rules that the products need to be at least in the same ballpark as what it says on the label, I imagine that would be quite difficult to enforce. It’s much easier to just go by an established local custom and just declare that to be the real deal.

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

#234

Post by el_benhameen »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #37
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…

The weird thing is, I don't see that much of a price difference between high-end "domestic" parmesan cheeses and the proper Parmigiano-Reggiano. The Saravecchio Parmesan (that's the Wisconsin domestic you're referring to, I assume) is about $17.99/lb, and the real, imported stuff is about $20/lb--even cheaper at places like Costco. So why not just get the real thing?

Side note, but Costco sells a full wheel of real-deal Parmigiano-Reggiano for what comes out to a little more than $13/lb. If you have friends or family who like cheese, splitting one up makes for a fun afternoon, and the hunks you get will last for a good long while in the fridge.

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

#236

Post by duckmysick »

gorgoiler wrote: post #232
hedora wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, what percentage of these crack open during processing, and how poisonous are they without the sio2 casing? What about when they hit the sewer processing plant, and are eventually dumped. Also, what sort of environmental impact does producing them have? Hopefully they'll be forced to label products that have these things in them. Otherwise, I'll be switching to fake Parmesan.

If you’re eating the rind you probably already have some more basic health issues — those of a mechanical rather than chemical nature.

I've seen a few recipes where you steep the rinds in a liquid or a sauce to get more flavor.

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

#237

Post by puszczyk »

PyWoody wrote: post #200
wahern wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 alo…

Sounds interesting. I never would have assumed double-entry bookkeeping went back that far. Any good book suggestions?

I enjoyed reading The Verge by P. Wyman https://www.amazon.com/Verge-Reformation-Renaissance-Forty-Y...

It describes changes that happened in war, mining, shipping, trade in (mostly western) Europe in the last decades of XV century. The common theme is finance and it includes a chapter on how bank houses became bigger and could secure much bigger loans (which allowed bigger states to wage wars, or rich individuals to bid for top titles ;)).

Fun read.

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

#238

Post by scheme271 »

gorgoiler wrote: post #232
hedora wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, what percentage of these crack open during processing, and how poisonous are they without the sio2 casing? What about when they hit the sewer processing plant, and are eventually dumped. Also, what sort of environmental impact does producing them have? Hopefully they'll be forced to label products that have these things in them. Otherwise, I'll be switching to fake Parmesan.

If you’re eating the rind you probably already have some more basic health issues — those of a mechanical rather than chemical nature.

Parmesan cheese rinds are tossed in soups or broths or used to infuse oils (e.g. olive oil).

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

#239

Post by Loic »

pacbard wrote: post #15

I'm curious to know which cheesemakers are using these chips. If you look at a wheel of Parmigiano (a whole one), you will see a number stamped on it. That's the cheesemaker's matriculation number in the consortium. There are 313 active ones right now. Some of them are very big (especially the ones in the lowlands) and some of them are very small (mostly the ones up in the hills). The small cheesemakers have trouble…

For the use of the cheese as collateral, a video showing the "cheese vault" of a bank[0] and a bank known to use cheese as collateral[1].

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzBPdU_iVcI

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credito_Emiliano

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

#240

Post by davidwritesbugs »

gorgoiler wrote: post #232
hedora wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, what percentage of these crack open during processing, and how poisonous are they without the sio2 casing? What about when they hit the sewer processing plant, and are eventually dumped. Also, what sort of environmental impact does producing them have? Hopefully they'll be forced to label products that have these things in them. Otherwise, I'll be switching to fake Parmesan.

If you’re eating the rind you probably already have some more basic health issues — those of a mechanical rather than chemical nature.

Rind on some cheeses is the best bit: Gruyere e.g. In fact I'd buy it by the packet as a snack - like pork scratchings. If I knew anything about cheesemaking I'd make this my side gig.
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