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.
I got to admit, Italians inventing Cheese DRM, wasn’t on my 2023 Bingo card.
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I would try really hard to do that
I would try really hard
Good, 'cause you’d need to!
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=Y8ctere_8Bc&
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Bolognese always clogs my fiber lines. Do not recommend downloading.
Physical products are the only ones that makes sense for DRM.
Blockchain-based cheese DRM! 😂
For fucks sake… This is literally about an RFID sticker that is put on the outside of whole cheese wheels.
So unless you buy whole 40kg wheel and then eat it with the rind… you are not eating any.
And also fuck that article for even mentioning that.
That makes it sound like the “edible” aspect of this is just an anti idiot feature. *Or just “printed” on it.
Either way, pointless article.
I believe regulations require that everything you put in or on food is technically editable. Like the paper stickers on bread or produce. They are disgusting, but if you or your child accidentally eats them, they are fine.
Those tiktokers eating the plastic around fruit chews are vindicated!
So I can eat the plastic wrappers?
Once?
You can probably get away with it more than once, after all there was that one person who was addicted to eating plastic. I will say it definitely isn’t good for you to do it, so I definitely wouldn’t recommend it.
I did eat those chicken wrappers accidentally at a buffet.
Alex Jones will yell about the headline and say Soros is microchipping food and if you eat cheese the 5g vaccine will do a false flag and turn the frogs even gayer.
I mean the top comment here didn’t even read the article to find out there’s no risk of them ingesting it unless it’s done on purpose after they purchase the entire wheel, they just read the headline and implied what it suggested without actually learning the full truth.
Alex Jones makes money on being a walking, talking “clickbait headline”. And people are so addicted to the dopamine they get from feeling “smarter” than other people (after being dumb all their lives because the American school system has been designed to fail them) that they huff his words like a drug.
Smug superiority is addictive.
You’re completely right, but it’s also highlighted when people on the internet discuss things they know nothing about but decide to become very sarcastic against “the other side.”
smug superiority indeed. many examples in this very thread.
Some recipes use the rind too, check this other comment here…
unless you buy whole 40kg wheel and then eat it with the rind
Haha no of course not…
lol right? I would never lol, that would be like, too much? Would it be too much? Honestly we may never know
It would probably last you a decade even if you really eat a lot of parmesan
You severely underestimate my cheese eating ability
I seriously love parmesan. I always buy it fresh and grate it myself. I know pretty well how much cheese is reasonable to eat in a sitting. 100g is insanely much for one serving, but you could distribute it over the whole day. If you eat 100g of parmesan each day, 1kg will be gone after 10 days. That means eating 40kg takes 400 days, or a bit longer than a year.
Being a bit more realistic easily allows you to stretch that wheel of parmesan over the span of a decade, even if you seriously love the stuff.
I’m perfectly aware that you’re not being entirely serious but I just can’t let it stand like that.
shifty eyes Yes, 100 grams is quite a lot. Yes. Indeed. Quite right.
When I was a kid we’d grate 200g for 4 people. I take a bit less nowadays than what I would get as a kid but some people still look at me funny. I think 20-30g is a regular serving.
Some people add the rind to broths.
If your soup or sauce sparks a little bit next time, you’ll know, lol.
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https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=parmesan+rind+uses&ia=web
From the top result (Treehugger):
- Throw them into tomato sauce when cooking. They’ll impart some flavor. Pull them out and discard when the sauce is done cooking.
- Place them in a jar, pour olive oil over them (perhaps add some garlic cloves, too – but if you add garlic, make sure to keep the oil refrigerated) and make parmesan-infused olive oil. Great for dipping bread into.
- Throw them into bean soups or minestrone. Discard the rinds before serving.
- Throw them into the pot when you’re making stock.
- Add to stew. Remove rinds before serving.
- Use them to flavor steamed artichokes. Add some chicken broth, onion and lemon juice and a cheese rind or two, and it’s a delicious broth!
- Put a rind in the pot when you’re cooking risotto or other rice. Remove the rind before serving.
- Make a parmesan broth for cheese-filled pastas like ravioli. You can try the Bitchincamero’s recipe for ricotta & pea ravioli in parmesan broth or just use the recipe for inspiration for your own pasta in Parmesan broth.
- Try The Novice Chef’s Panera-inspired recipe for tomato, cheese and bread Soup.
- If the rind is pure cheese (with no waxy coating), you can grill the rind until it becomes soft and chewy, put it on a piece of crusty bread, and eat.
You seems to be someone that don’t eat parmesan cheese.
To save you a click (although none of the other commenters seem to have read the article anyway): The microchips aren’t embedded into the actual cheese that you eat, but are part of the label attached to the outside rind. Nobody will be eating microchips.
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
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.
I mean, the ship of Theseus isn’t a problem, nor is there a solution, but I get the joke anyway :)
There was a joke in there?
There was a joke in there?
I thought there must be, otherwise it would be a deep misunderstanding of what the ship of Theseus is
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.
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
and much more… centralized? But let’s also just ignore the part where it’s described as generally more secure as well.
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.
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.
and much more… centralized?
it being centralized dosent mean its bad. theres also the fact that many processes are centralized by the nature of how they work.
it’s described as generally more secure as well.
why would that be?
What corporation which validates their supply chain for authenticity is not already centralized? It literally makes no sense when the official manufacturer and logistics partners are all known, at that point you may at best want “transparency logs” but not blockchains. They’re not even intended to stay authenticated on a second hand market, so there’s no need to be able to keep tracking their movements after first sale
I don’t know, can you make a JPEG of the cheese wheel and then put the hyperlink on the blockchain? Maybe make it so I can import the cheese in a shitty MMO that nobody actually wants to play?
It probably is, for ants
If I run low on health and have to eat several dozen cheese wheels, will the authentic DRM ones provide a greater HP boost compared to the generic cheese wheels?
Actually an “HP boost” refers to using fake Hewlett-Packard ink cartridges that circumvent their ink-jet printer DRM. 😁
Maybe I’m a picker eater, but I think I’d rather have an inauthentic product than eating a microchip.
Hey, don’t knock it till you try it
as other people pointed out, is a sticker on the outside, on the hard part.
unless you are very hungry and have good teeth, you will not eat it.
yet, since is applied on edible product, it needs to be edible.
You won’t be eating any, read again.
I know. There’s an answer above where I say that. Writing a jokey comment doesn’t mean you haven’t read it.
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
Poe’s law strikes again
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.
We are definitely not sorting comments by the same criterion, then.
Your other comment was nowhere to be seen 😉
You wouldn’t even notice.
I’m both cases.
I would!
points RFID scanner in their general direction
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
As long as Dodgy Dave passed his mandatory FDA inspections I’d eat his cheese.
You think the big brands don’t use industrial cleaner? LOL
But the point is if the labels are fake you don’t know if they got inspected, it’s organized crime gangs running it and they’re not really known for being sticklers for the law…
The cleaning products and procedures are heavily regulated in food production because when they’re not people cut corners and use cheaper things without regard for long-term health effects
Now you’re worried about counterfeit Dodgy Dave cheese? Where are you buying your cheese‽
There was a HUGE scandal in the UK over rotten horse meat getting mixed into basically everything. This was part of the whole Ikea horse meat story from years ago.
It’s a supply chain issue, criminal gangs fake paperwork and all that stuff hence the cheese people going for more extreme security measures - you could be eating Dave’s cheese in an expensive restaurant, as far as they know it’s ligit but the importer or supplier duped them
I mean I was being a little jocular in my comment (since this tracker is on the outside) it doesn’t really matter.
But by preferring “inauthentic” I was thinking something like “Greek style cheese” which is just feta but made outside of Greece or sparking wine for champagne. So food standards still apply.
But yeah, they are trying to stop fraudulent claims.
Nothing enhances that Mediterranean flavor quite like micro plastics
The conspiracy theorists are going to run wild with this one.
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?
Except for counterfeiters. They eat the whole thing to make sure their copies are accurate but now we can track their poops. I’m telling you, Mario, this thing is genius!
That’s why he was a plumber, to track our poop
I’m just picturing him listening to the pipes with a stethoscope
Dr Mario says you haven’t eaten enough fiber
They don’t read the article though so as far as they’re concerned this proves jet fuel can’t melt 5G COVID
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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
Not really putting them “into” their cheese, just the labels that bind with their outer casing of the cheese wheel. Still neat.
They are being placed on the casein label, a food-safe label commonly used in cheese production, which is placed on the cheese wheel.
Okay…
That still begs the question, why are they considered edible? Are people eating the labels? 🤔
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Interesting. So how long before you become an official scannable wheel of cheese? 🤔
Could he claim to officially identify as a parmigiano reggiano cheese?
Not sure, we should cut him open and taste to confirm.
Probably because otherwise people would be like “yOuRe PuTtInG mEtAl IN mY cHEeSe”
Even if it’s just the size of a grain of sand, I don’t want to worry about biting down on that.
I would too, but it goes in the shell/outside that goes around the cheese wheel, not in the cheese itself
I’m just saying, there’s a reason we’re not allowed to have kinder surprise eggs in the US. If we can find a way to hurt ourselves with food we will. And then we will sue.
I mean… yeah. That is a very reasonable concern.
It is if it’s anywhere that’s eaten it is, but the outer rim of the cheese wheel doesn’t get eaten
Except it is very common to boil cheese rind for broth. And prolonged exposure high temperatures tend to break down pollutants into even more reactive forms as well as draw them out into solution. Worse if it’s in like a commercial steam oven or pressure cooker that can get much higher than 100 C, you know, like many professional restaurants make a point of using.
I doubt it will be that easy to identify and scrape off, because that would defeat the point, probably hidden deep within the layers. It says it can’t be read remotely so very unlikely it’s just an off the shelf RFID sticker you can easily see and peel off. I also doubt a lot of people will know it’s there and that it needs to be removed in the first place, or they’ll take their word for it that it’s edible even though they are absolutely in no position to make that claim and have definitely not done the rigorous medical research/testing to actually justify a claim like that.
I guess in that case I should probably seek out the counterfeit versions of it since they’re now apparently better than the originals.
What?
Who wants to eat a microchip?
It’s in the wrapper not the cheese silly
Oh. Well then, nevermind!
Where in the article did it mention that the counterfeit versions are better than the originals? I didn’t see a comparison of quality at all (maybe I missed it?).
I think it’s more than the counterfeit versions have gotten so good and/or cheap that the genuine manufacturers feel the need to compete by placing microchips in their cheese rather than improve their own or bring down the price.
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You’re talking about market economics on a site full of tankies.
Well the counterfeit versions don’t have microchips in them.
Neither does this cheese, if you read the article the microchips are in the casing
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Lol, cheese DRM. Just when I thought more DRM was impossible.
If I can make cheese good enough to pretend that it’s another brand, I’m gonna just slap my own label on it
It’s not a brand name but a regionally protected signifier. Like champagne.
Ah yeah the appellation system. couldn’t you just call it “Champagne-style wine”?
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Next up. Improve your wireless network with cheese.
Introducing: the Mish network!
Hold up…
There is counterfeit cheese?
It’s not Parmigiana-Reggiano if it doesn’t come from the Parmigiana-Reggiano region of France. Everything else is just sparkling cheese.
Swiss cheese seems like it literally is sparkling cheese. The holes are the carbonation! 🤣
🤓
Ackshually…
The holes in the swiss cheese is due to contaminants and they’ve formalised the process because it turned out that their cleanliness standards removed too many contaminants.
(Sorry, I’m also a hit at parties)
Oh yes daddy, talk dirty cheese facts to me.
It’s Italian. Parma and Reggio are two Italian cities.
Woosh
That doesn’t sound right. Are you sure it’s not just all Italian France?
I am Italian and am pretty sure.
https://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/
Even though somehow more people agree with you than with me, proving the point that it’s important to defend the trademark.
You’re not crazy, I was just fucking around. People aren’t agreeing with me, they recognize I’m joking, and they are probably downvoting you because you responded as though I was being serious.
There’s an old reference that Champagne isn’t Champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region of France. Otherwise it’s sparkling wine. It’s become a meme (although the joke predates the popular use of the term “meme”) to say X isn’t X unless yadda yadda sparkling Y. I left the bit about it being from France because I thought it would be funny to be confidently incorrect about that, like all of Europe is French.
I really didn’t know how much Italian cheese is known abroad. Usually the French specialties are more famous.
In the USA, parigiana is practically synonymous with italian food. We have this powdered cheese product that comes in a plastic can that sort of replicates the msg flavor but has a gritty feel due to an anti-caking agent we add to the powder.
But fancy italian cheeses are widely available as well, and many grocery stores carry proper parmesan, romano, provolone, pecorino, gorgonzola, asiago, mascarpone, ricotta, and of course mozzarella. Ironically, it’s the areas where dairy farming is most popular where you find fewer international options, but that’s just because there will be 20 local variations of cheddar.
How would we know you are really Italian without scanning your microchip?
He was joking lol, he was talking about it like how people talk about champaign and sparkling wine 🤣
Beautiful
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And olive oil and cigarettes and… Anything else really.
Wait till you find out about fake eggs (etc) in china
Have you not tried Velveeta?
EU has lots of protected origin products.
Yea, many swiss brands have problems protecting their IP in America. Just recently Emmentaler lost its IP there, because Emmentaler describes a sort of cheese which is like our Swiss Emmentaler in America vs here in Switzerland only cheese from the Emmental is allowed to be called a Emmentaler.
Also for the Gruyère cheese it was recently announced the US will ignore Switzerland’s claims. That despite the fact Gruyère and Emmentaler are traditionally made with raw milk, something that’s illegal in the US.
It’s ridiculous that while we can’t protect our cheese in America they just successfully protect pictures of any apple (even real ones) here in Switzerland… Well, luckily only in connection with technology, but yea REAL Apples…
Thank China for that.
Cheese that is cheaper and just as tasty as the original? Thank you china!
With a few sparkles of deplorable work conditions on top, delicious!
Don’t forget the melamine.
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You know, just FYI: Vermont white cheddar is “American cheese.” It’s not just Kraft singles.
