We’ve all either heard about or have come across luxury counterfeit goods such as handbags and watches. Unfortunately, the list of counterfeited goods doesn’t end there; it extends to consumables as well. The frequency of counterfeit food brands is on the rise and not only that, the counterfeiters are getting better at their jobs.
To give you feel of the gravity of the situation, the Grocery Manufacturers Associates estimated that counterfeiters cost the food industry $10 to 15 billion every year. Most alarmingly, counterfeit foods could be lying about their ingredients, a serious problem for those with severe food allergies.
Fortunately, a few packaging companies have decided to take action against counterfeit brands. New York Label & Box Co. typically provides packaging to companies in many different industries. The firm recently chose to expand to brand protection and anti-counterfeiting technologies. As the world progresses to full transparency in their consumables, the firm believes that it is imperative that products have a unique identifier (UID) that allows you to know important information about what you’re buying.
This can be done a few ways. Packages can contain an imbedded chip that can be scanned with a device or a covert mark can be laser printed on the packaging. The beauty of this solution is that packaging is a cost effective way of embedding an UID for almost any product. It’ll be interesting to see if other companies adapt in this manner to protect their precious brand names.
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