Parmesan cheese makers in Italy are fighting counterfeits by embedding edible microchips in their cheeses

person holding a parmesan cheese wheel amid a stack of several such wheels (Credit: Marco Bertorello—AFP/Getty Images)

How do you tell the difference between a block of beloved Italian parmesan and a copycat? Just look for the one with a chip in it.

Producers fed up with phony products flooding the market have begun embedding edible microchips into their cheese wheels. It's a bid to help consumers distinguish between authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano—or parmesan—and fakes, according to the Wall Street Journal.