Skip to main content

Eatable Barcodes to Choke Counterfeit Drug Market!

In effort to thwart a trillion dollar global counterfeit problem, a Honolulu-based company has designed an security platform that could put edible barcodes on food and pharmaceuticals. The microtags developed by TruTag Technologies are made from silica — an ingredient already found in many foods, including sweetners — and are independent of packaging and labels and can be integrated directly into a product’s infrastructure. About the size of a dust particle and smaller than the width of a human hair, the silica “TruTags” provide a vast library of unique codes, allowing for improved tracking and authentication of electronics, industrial parts and consumer goods. Each tag’s coded, nano-scale pattern can be scanned using the company’s proprietary instruments.
These patterns are like ID numbers that can be associated with a variety of information, such as product strength, site of manufacture, expiration date and country of authorized sale.
TruTags’ creators said in a press release their platform “will help prevent counterfeiting, enhance the safety and traceability of food and medicine, improve tracking and logistics, assure product quality and enable the Internet of Things.”
Putting product intelligence on a pill, instead of the package, could help drug manufactures and product security teams authenticate their product. A few years ago, GSK, one of the top pharmaceutical companies in the world, was found guilty of felony distribution of adulterated drugs and paid a $750 million fine for mixing up an anti-anxiety drug and a diabetes drug in the same GSK packaging. Had the drugs been equipped with TruTag microtags, the inspectors could have determined where each pill was made to help diagnose where the problem was in their global supply chain.
TruTag has been named a 2014 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, an award given to 36 companies that are designing, developing and deploying innovative technologies that affect business and society.
“I am looking forward to discussing the role of innovation for the future of society, and sharing our vision for TruTag to impact the global counterfeit problem, especially in the area of safety and authenticity of food and medicine where the impact of counterfeits on human lives is beyond measure,” said Dr. Hank C.K. Wuh, TruTag Technologies chairman.

Popular posts from this blog

LG’s first flexible OLED phone due before the year is out

LG plans to launch a flexible OLED smartphone before the end of the year, the company’s VP of mobile has confirmed, though it’s unclear to what extent the work-in-progress handset will actually flex. The OLED panel in question is the handiwork of LG Display according to VP of LG mobile Yoon Bu-hyun, the WSJ  reports, with the proposed device set to launch sometime in Q4. LG Display’s work on flexible OLEDs has been underway for some time, though the company’s efforts have perhaps been overshadowed somewhat by rival Samsung’s YOUM development. Last year, according to a Korea Times report, LG Display was preparing for
Post a Comment
Full Story »

Bing Apps for Windows 8 get major updates

Late least year, Microsoft rolled out a half dozen Bing Apps for Windows 8 users, each one focused on a specific category, such as travel and sports. The apps were designed to offer “immersive vertical experiences,” and now, about six months later, a big line of updates for them is being pushed out. Users can grab the updates now by heading into the Windows Store and selecting the updates notification.
Post a Comment
Full Story »

Syrian Electronic Army claims credit for CBS Twitter accounts hack

Yesterday, several of CBS ’s Twitter accounts were hacked, including its main account, and its accounts for 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, and CBS Denver. The hackers got into the account and tweeted a series of things relating to President Obama and the United States being in cahoots with Al-Qaeda . The tweets also had links that led users to malware-infested sites. While CBS was able to regain access to its accounts, it was unable to figure out who was behind the attacks, until now. The Syrian Electronic Army , the same group that hacked 3 of the BBC’s Twitter accounts, claimed
Post a Comment
Full Story »