San Daniele Prosciutto to Wear RFID Seal of Authenticity

Throughout 2007, the consortium reviewed the test results and performed a feasibility study to explore the use of RFID throughout the production line, with tags read at each step in the process, including salting, cleaning, trimming, washing, maturing, deboning, pressing and slicing. In 2008, the consortium intends to introduce step-by-step tests of the system during various production phases.

During the 2006 testing, operators at the smaller factory placed an RFID tag on each ham after it was weighed and sent through initial quality checks shortly after arriving at the factory. The tags were then read with a handheld interrogator. At the larger factory, Softwork used a specially designed machine to insert the tag so it did not deeply pierce the flesh. The machine, mounted on a conveyor belt, contains a Feig proximity interrogator to read the tags.

The custom-designed, rivet-shaped, passive 13.56 MHz RFID tag contains an LRI 64 chip from STMicroelectronics and complies with the ISO 15693 standard. Each tag is encoded only with a unique ID number that is linked, in a database, with other information, such as the pig's birth date and dietary history, as well as a regional breeding code. The database is maintained by the Istituto Nord Est Qualità (INEQ)—the North-East Quality Institute—an independent quality-control body based in San Daniele del Friuli.

During the expanded tests, the second tag reading will be conducted when the ham is salted. "The reading of the RFID tag after salting, as well as in the whole production process, helps us reliably trace and control the production, since each step has to meet precise criteria," says Paolo Bevacqua, Softwork's technical manager for the project.

Once the system is fully developed and tested, each consortium member will be required to implement it. The exact configuration will vary from plant to plant, depending on a particular factory's size. Once the technology is fully deployed, the consortium is expected to use about 4 million tags annually.

If a ham is to be sold whole, the tag can remain on the leg, to be discarded by the consumer. If the meat is sold sliced, information from the RFID tag is printed on an adhesive label placed on the back of the packaging or box used for delivery. Visentin says the system will cost ham producers an average of €50,000 ($73,000) each.