Preventing food fraud! Scientific origin certification and case studies.

Japan Distribution Management Support Organization Co., Ltd. will exhibit the "Origin Certification Service" called "Proof of Origin" at the agricultural and livestock exhibition "Agriculture WEEK (commonly known as J-AGRII)" held at Makuhari Messe. "Proof of Origin" is expected to solve the problem of counterfeit Japanese sake that has been occurring frequently overseas in recent years. We aim to protect the value of Japanese sake brands both domestically and internationally and to further increase the number of sake fans.

On June 10, the Japan Distribution Management Support Organization conducted a "Japanese sake origin certification" using a service that applies technology used in diamond origin certification. As a result, we report that we were able to pinpoint the exact origin of "which sake brewery it was produced in." This certification was conducted voluntarily by our company to demonstrate the technology. This certification uses our "scientific" origin certification service, "Origin Seal," to identify the precise origin of "which sake brewery it was produced in." Japanese sake is said to be more difficult to certify compared to wine because its raw materials are only "water" and "rice." In this context, we conducted an analysis at the molecular level of water and rice to determine whether they matched the original (authentic) product. For this certification, we used a total of 9 bottles from 3 different brands produced in 3 prefectures (Niigata, Gunma, and Kyoto) with different manufacturing dates. For more details, please refer to the related links.