Parmigiano-Reggiano makers are putting edible microchips the size of a grain of sand into their 90-pound cheese wheels to combat counterfeiters::Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano makers are using microchips to verify the authenticity of their products and thwart scammers.

  • @Terr@lemmy.ml
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    1662 years ago

    I got to admit, Italians inventing Cheese DRM, wasn’t on my 2023 Bingo card.

  • @dhork@lemmy.world
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    682 years ago

    The chips use blockchain technology and trace the wheel of cheese back to where the milk that was used came from.

    Cryptobros, Unite! We finally found a way for blockchain tech to be relevant for more than just ransomware! We authenticate cheese!

    Someone’s gonna make a ton of money on CheeseCoin

    • @Edgelord_Of_Tomorrow@lemmy.world
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      152 years ago

      Blockchain is also good for solving the Ship of Theseus problem. You can encode the entire history of the object into the object.

      Blockchain has many cool uses and none of them are currency.

    • @June@lemm.ee
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      2 years ago

      Blockchain =/= crypto

      Crypto uses blockchain, but blockchain is just a different type of database that generally tracks data through a decentralized network. It has a lot of real uses beyond crypto like identity verification, transcript/records management management, and iot data sharing. It’s nothing that can’t be done in a centralized manner, it’s just a different way of going about it that, in some cases, is much more secure and/or much more easily accessible.

      • @Helluin@lemm.ee
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        02 years ago

        It’s nothing that can’t be done in a centralized manner,

        and thats the main problem with basically all blockchain related solutions, theres pretty much always a centralized alternative thats more efficient

        • utopianrevolt
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          02 years ago

          and much more… centralized? But let’s also just ignore the part where it’s described as generally more secure as well.

          • @FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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            12 years ago

            Most commercial non-crypto blockchains I’ve seen only have a couple of nodes connected, usually held by a single entity. In these cases it’s no less centralised than any alternative write-only DB.

          • @turmacar@lemmy.world
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            02 years ago

            The cheese makers are not concerned about decentralization. Presumably they trust themselves, because they are the only ones trusted to write to the database. If they are the only ones allowed to put something on the chain, it’s a central database, regardless of how many computers/places they run it on.

            Blockchain is not magically more secure than any other equivalent cryptographic solution.

  • @Fishy@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Maybe I’m a picker eater, but I think I’d rather have an inauthentic product than eating a microchip.

      • @Fishy@lemmy.world
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        02 years ago

        I know. There’s an answer above where I say that. Writing a jokey comment doesn’t mean you haven’t read it.

        • @happyhippo@feddit.it
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          12 years ago

          Well then the right thing to do would be to edit your misinformation-spreading comment in this thread, don’t you think?

          I’m not reading ALL of your comments

          • @Fishy@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            Haha no. Cause I read the article before I posted my comment. I’m not spreading misinformation.

            The misinformation is in the title of the article. Report the article instead of going after someone who read it, and is obviously not talking about the article seriously.

            It’s funny though when someone says read the article doesn’t read the one of the top tree of comments they are replying to where I explicitly say it’s a non issue 10 hours before your comment.

            Maybe you want to edit your comment.

            • @happyhippo@feddit.it
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              12 years ago

              We are definitely not sorting comments by the same criterion, then.

              Your other comment was nowhere to be seen 😉

    • @Meowoem@sh.itjust.works
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      02 years ago

      What if the inauthentic product is made by my mate dodgy Dave who got a load of cheap milk and some dirty old metalwork, it’s ok he flushed a load of industrial cleaner through them and it’s good stuff they use it to clean engines at his brother’s garage…

      You’d be far better off not buying a prestige product and getting a good quality cheese from a reputable manufacturer at a price that doesn’t include a huge markup due to perceived historic significance

    • Otter
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      132 years ago

      That’s because makers of Parmigiano-Reggiano are implanting microchips into the casings of their 90-pound cheese wheels as the latest move to ward off counterfeiters, The Wall Street Journal reported.

      If it’s just going in the casings, then it wouldn’t be eaten I guess?

  • @Thann@lemmy.ml
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    322 years ago

    its funny that some ppl are paranoid that bill gates is trying to microchip them with a vaccine when they probably already have been by the fucking itailians

  • Draconic NEO
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    192 years ago

    I guess in that case I should probably seek out the counterfeit versions of it since they’re now apparently better than the originals.

    • @marmo7ade@lemmy.world
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      12 years ago

      You can make great cheese, but you can’t fake 900 years of experience and the brand recognition that goes along with it. That’s why people illegally put the parm label on cheese that is not parm.

      • Marxism-Fennekinism
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        2 years ago

        One of the biggest reasons for avoiding counterfeit food is the higher risk of contaminants.

        Semiconductors are a pretty serious contaminant.

    • @Sektor@lemmy.world
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      22 years ago

      They make counterfeit Rolex so good, you need an expert and a microscope to tell the difference. Why not cheese.

      • Marxism-Fennekinism
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        2 years ago

        It’s almost like luxury goods are a scam and purely for bragging rights of having the brand, and not that the actual object is unique or the best!

  • ellesper
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    112 years ago

    The microchips aren’t edible because they want you to eat them. They’re edible because they know some idiot eventually will eat one.

  • @spittingimage@lemmy.world
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    102 years ago

    TIL there’s a global market in fake cheese. Which is to say, real cheese that someone slapped a fancier label on.

    I’m sure all the steps we took to reach this point were logical ones, but we still find ourselves in a very strange place.

    • @MeanEYE@lemmy.world
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      42 years ago

      Considering they charge arm an a leg for the damn thing no wonder. Also wait until you find out there are fake eggs mass produced in China. That will mind-stop you.

    • @FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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      32 years ago

      Legally it’s only cheese if it comes from the “Formaggi” region in Italy. Otherwise it has to be called “bad milk product”.

    • @Meowoem@sh.itjust.works
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      02 years ago

      Yeah it’s like how the Champaign region has brutalised it’s soil with over production and now produces substandard grapes compared to other regions but due to established customs can charge the most.

      Cheese makes even less sense as the original taste was down to the quality of the dairy and the process of making it - both of which have changed totally and are easily replicatable, though fake cheese is potentially dangerous if made unlicenced because God knows what corners they could cut - I don’t want to eat something full of reminant cleaning products and deadly pathogens.

      Really then avoiding over-priced prestige products is the best choice economically, medically, and morally (I’ll skip the essay on that but the main point is it’s funding greed and establishing a classist normal which is something we should be moving away from).

  • Flying Squid
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    82 years ago

    I knew this was how Bill Gates would get us. Through our spaghetti and meatballs.