trutag technologies has developed an edible microtag, branded trutag®, for identification, authentication, brand protection and quality assurance of individual medicines, electronic components, industrial parts, food items, and a range of consumer goods. trutag microtags are secure, opticallyencoded, microsized tags that safely and directly mark food, medicine, or other goods. they are made from silica, which has been affirmed as generally recognized as safe, or &ldquogras,&rdquo by the u.s. food and drug administration. each trutag microtag contains a custommanufactured spectral signature chosen from millions of possibilities, yet each highvolume item can be labeled costeffectively, making widespread tracking of individual items feasible. trutag&rsquos proprietary technology etches unique &lsquospectral barcodes&rsquo into a porous silicon wafer. the codes can be measured via a portable spectrometerbased optical reader and can reference a label in a secure database, where additional information about the item including lot number, expiration date, date of manufacture, authorized customer, or country of authorized sale can be stored as desired, such as a link to a future epedigree track and trace system. the microtags are passive, inconspicuous and can be attached either to the outside of items to be read like on the coating of a pill, or mixed into items as a forensic excipient to be read as part of an inspection process or investigation by authorized security or quality assurance personnel. the microtags are encoded with information throughout their depth, rather than along their surface, they can be broken into pieces, with each piece still containing all of the encoded information. this makes porous silica microtags suitable for forensic applications, where the tag may be subjected to rough handling. as long as any piece of the tag can be recovered, the information is not lost. even after the use and disposal of a product, in all but extreme situations, a silica microtag will survive. this is in contrast to rfid, which requires internal electrical connectivity, and upc codes, which require that the surface of the code remain intact. source httpwww.trutags.comtrutagplatform
