Fighting fake foods

Mediaseek​ says it planning to sell its service to Japanese producers of foods, pharmaceuticals and consumer electronics. One of the biggest problems facing manufacturers of big brand consumer goods in China, is the counterfeiting of those goods.

The system is simple, but Mediaseek claims it is effective. The first step in Mediaseek's anti-counterfeiting measure is to allocate dedicated numbers to authentic products. These number are encrypted into 20-digit numbers that are printed on stickers and then attached to the product as a security seal. Mediaseek says that a computer or mobile phone can then be used to track the product through its server to find out whether or not the product is genuine.

The company says that the cost of issuing 30,000 stickers starts at 600,000 yen (€4,516). Mediaseek expects to sell the service to 10-20 firms in its first year of offering.

Based in Tokyo MediaSeek specialises in mobile technologies, including content distribution, customer control services, advertisement and marketing services for mobile phones, business consultation for distribution of contents and information. The mainstay of its business is with Japanese companies.

Mediaseek's drive to launch its technologies onto the China market comes amid growing pressure to stamp out fake production. Earlier on this year a scandal concerning fake baby food caused the deaths of at least 12 infants, leading to a national and international outcry.

Although the Chinese authorities are trying to implement measures to reduce the incidence of fake goods, in the meantime the responsibility still chiefly lies with the manufacturers. This is why technology such as that offered by Mediaseek is proving to be increasingly popular.