Kodak helps fight wine fraud

Kodak’s printing technology is helping the wine industry in its fight against counterfeiting, which is thought to affect as much as five per cent of wine sold in secondary markets. Kodak’s Traceless technology allows wine producers to protect their bottles through the use of invisible markers. These can be added to printing inks, paper or other packaging elements and are undetectable by standard chemical, optical or forensic analysis. They can be seen only by the company’s handheld readers.

Steve Powell, General Manager and Director of Security Solutions at Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group, said: ‘Wine fraud is a rising problem that threatens to seriously damage the premium wine industry. Kodak’s proprietary anticounterfeiting technology gives users a covert, easy-to-implement and long-lasting solution for defending their products and reputations.’

Several of California’s Napa Valley wineries have already adopted the technology, which will prevent counterfeiters from duplicating labels or other product packaging and can quickly determine whether a suspect bottle is genuine or a fake.