A step that delights “Parmesan” cheese lovers.. an electronic chip that reveals the fake

Italian cheese makers have decided to insert tracer chips into the shells of their cheese molds in an attempt to undermine dubious competitors who falsely claim to make real Parmesan cheese.

Parmigiano Reggiano, a brand of the most famous makers of "real" Parmesan cheese, is recognized by gourmets and restaurateurs, and an EU court passed a law in 2008 that cheese could only be sold as "Parmesan" if it was made by makers. Reggiano in Italy.

But the market for fake Parmesan cheese has swelled in recent years, generating billions of dollars in sales, a trend that has worried Italian cheesemakers, according to Food & Wine magazine, prompting the need for quick solutions.

So, Parmigiano-Reggiano has come up with an amazing high-tech solution, according to The Byte magazine.

To protect each of its molds with their original identity, the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, a trade union founded in 1934, will work with a Dutch company that specializes in making microchips for this type of business.

These chips are tiny transceivers that give each Parmesan bar a special, scanable food tag. Each of these tags, which are food-safe and smaller than a grain of salt, are then stored on the blockchain - elsewhere and easily traceable.

This combination of traceability technology and the unique production of Parmesan cheese will allow "the protection of the original brand against similar brands and their differentiation."

According to the magazine, in the second quarter of 2022 alone, 100,000 Parmesan molds will be fitted with smart tracking stickers, at least for the foreseeable future.

This technology will replace the traditional brand code tracking technology, but it may lead to an increase in the cost of production and therefore the selling price.

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