Authenticateit App Verifies Food Products for Consumers

A new app allows consumers in China and other locations to quickly determine whether a food product is genuine or counterfeit. The Authenticateit smartphone app “empowers consumers with a fast and convenient way to check a product's authenticity before purchase, whilst providing brands with a powerful tool to track, trace and prevent instances of unauthorised distribution and retailing,” according to the app's website.

Users scan an item's barcode with their smartphone, and multiple language settings allow them to view that product's history in their own language. Founder and CEO Gennady Volchek said in an interview with The Chronicle that the app was developed to protect consumers against “food criminals.” He stated that Asian consumers are particularly concerned with making sure food products are safe and from a reliable source.

Authenticateit not only helps protect consumers, but also provides a way for brands and other supply chain nodes to protect against fraud. New food safety regulations in China require traceability, and Authenticateit allows brands to meet that requirement. The app is part of integrating the entire supply chain from producer to consumer, including intermediary stops along the way, such as purchasing and customs.

So far, brands like Norco milk have signed on with Authenticateit, as well as entities such as the World Customs Organization.

For consumers, the app is available through iTunes and Google Play, as well as Zhushou.360, a Chinese app store.