Traditionally, the technologies used to catch counterfeit goods and those used to monitor food safety have had little in common. Anticounterfeiting relies on complex visuals – holograms, microtext, or colour-shifting inks – designed to be hard to copy. Food safety, on the other hand, focuses on detecting chemical changes that signal spoilage, like rising acidity or the release of gases.

A new method for combating whisky refill fraud has been developed by combining molecular science with blockchain technology.

In a new approach, scientists are developing accessible and affordable methods to enable more comprehensive detection and identification of illicit distilled spirit products.

In the September 2023 issue of Authentication & Brand News™, we examined how Parmigiano Reggiano, the iconic Italian cheese, has embraced modern technology by embedding edible microchips into its 40kg cheese wheels to combat counterfeiting.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have introduced a pilot traceability programme to track the origin and carbon footprint of each dragon fruit planted in the southern province of Bình Thuận, Vietnam.

In a move that blends ancient culinary tradition with 21st-century innovation, Italian cheesemakers have turned to technology for a solution to their counterfeiting woes, by embedding edible microchips into their 40kg cheese wheels.

It has been 10 years since a UK parliamentary committee reported on the meat contamination scandal that hit media headlines in 2013.

A partnership between p-Chip Corp, Kaasmerk Matec and the Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano has led to the creation of a new digital traceability tag for parmesan cheese.

Acviss Technologies has developed a blockchain-based traceability application for the Coffee Board of India that gets around the issue of operating when there is no internet connection.

As a first step towards its goal of enhancing traceability systems in the food sector, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released a final rule on ‘Requirements for Additional Traceability Records for Certain Foods’.