Cheesemakers Embedding Tiny Tracking Chips in Parmesan

This is not a conspiracy theory.

Italian cheesemakers are trying to undermine their competitors by putting tracking chips into the rinds of their cheese wheels.

The European Union court upheld a law in 2008 that cheese can only be sold if it is made in Italy.

Despite their best efforts, counterfeit parmesan has ballooned into a billion dollar market, a trend that has Italian cheesemakers worried, according to Food and Wine.

Cheese Crime

Parmigiano Reggiano came up with a high tech solution. The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, a trade union established in 1934, is teaming up with a Dutch company that makes p-Chips, a type of casein cheese.

Each wheel of parmesan has a unique and scannednable food tag. Each of these tags can be easily traced and stored on a blockchain.

Track and Trace

Tracking codes cheesemakers have been using for two decades have been upgraded.

The Consortium can better control its inventory, protect and differentiate its products against look and sound-alike brands and have access to unmatchable track-and-trace technology by integrating p-Chip micro transponders into Casein tags.

The Consortium is adding smart labels to 100,000 parmesan wheels before they decide if they want to stick with the technology going forward.

If you buy a cheese labeled "Parmigiano Reggiano" at the grocery store, you can be assured that it really is.

The makers of Parmigiano Reggiano are trying to fight cheese fraud.