You know that parmesan cheese you put on your pasta or atop your salad? Well, it’s probably not the real thing. But how can you tell? Manufacturers have turned to technology to keep cheesy counterfeiters from selling knock-off Parmigiano Reggiano®.
The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium (PRC) which oversees production is now tracking and monitoring the cheese using microtransponders about the size of a grain of salt that are inserted into the labels on the rind of 120,000 wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano®. PRC estimates that annual global sales of fake cheese amount to about $2 billion.
The microchips are food-safe, but given their location in the cheese’s hard skin, they likely would not be eaten anyway. Why all the fuss over cheese? Because this renowned Italian variety is often counterfeited and sold cheaper and does not meet the requirements to be considered the real deal.
“By being the first to incorporate these secure digital labels onto our cheese wheels, we can continue to ensure consumer safety, bringing the traceability and the authentication of our products to meet industry 4.0 technological targets,” says Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano in a news release.
The cheese achieved coveted Protected Designation of Origin status from the EU in 1996. Under these regulations, Parmigiano Reggiano® must be made in a specific northern Italian region that encompasses the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia. The cheese wheels must mature for at least a year in a mountain climate, as well as be assessed by experts two years after production to ensure quality.
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