Enhancing product security by using direct marking and QR codes

Typical means to fight counterfeiters is to put safety elements onto product packages. Product security can, however, be enhanced by using safety features on product itself in order to guarantee user safety, authenticity and tracking. Making markings on product itself is called direct marking. Laser marking and inkjet printing are suitable digital direct marking methods. In this paper VTT has evaluated the potential of inkjet printing based direct marking to provide security elements - specifically QR codes - on food products. The focus has been on evaluating if inkjet printed QR codes remain readable during storage. The main phenomena affecting code readability is ink spreading in cold and humid conditions. Edible commercial inks were used in this study. It was concluded that inkjet printing is a suitable direct marking methods to be used for security solutions.