Its okay it was just a typo

How is a microchip edible? Big as a sand grain? How does it work? How long has this tech existed? How many microchips have I eaten? Do they stop working if I eat them?

It's not edible. The chip is in the packaging. Chipping packaging is normal and the headline is funny but sensational

Now producers have been trialling the most modern of authentication methods – microtransponders about the size of a grain of salt inserted into the labels found on the rind of 120,000 wheels of parmigiano reggiano.

Edit or it might as well be edible no one knows since no ones eaten cheese with the packaging
- That's not in the packaging, it's in the rind of the cheese itself. The labels are also written on the cheese itself.
- I'm willing to bet some people on this planet have eaten the packaging at least once.
- into the labels found on the rind
  
  The labels are directly on the rind of the cheese - not on a sticker or something.
its probably a rfid like thing made with metals that will just pass through you
If a tiny chip is embedded in glass or a similar biologically inert coating, and it's still small enough to pass your intestines without noticing, then it's edible. RFID can be very small, has no internal power, and only responds to a nearby request ping, which also gives it a few milliseconds of power.

How the fuck do you counterfeit cheese? Do you use chocolate milk instead of regular?

The designation "Parmigiano Reggiano" is a protected designation of origin (PDO) in the European Union.

It means that to be able to call a cheese "Parmigiano Reggiano" a producer needs to follow a strict set of rules on how to produce the cheese, how to mature it, how the cows are being fed and it has to be manufactured in a specific area in Italy.

So if someone is making cheese without following the rules and sell it as Parmigiano it would be counterfeit cheese. Just like someone selling lemonade but calling it "Sprite".
- And don't forget the "origin" part. These designations also include being made in a specific region. You could follow all the rules and exact ingredients for Champagne, but if it's not made in Champagne, France then you can't call it Champagne. Same for Cognac, etc.
- Just like someone selling lemonade but calling it “Sprite”.
  
  In Australia, we actually do use "lemonade" to refer to drinks like Sprite, lol. We don't really have the American-style non-carbonated lemonade.
It's because the use of the name parmigiano reggiano requires that the cheese come from a certain region of Italy (or somewhere in Europe). There's nothing else special about it. Counterfeit cheese in this case is just the same exact cheese but made elsewhere and likely sold for cheaper.

Source: I work in cheese and also Wikipedia several months back
- I'm picturing you as an average office worker, but with a Willy Wonka-esque boss who has replaced all of the furniture with various types of dairy products.
- That's not exactly true. If you make parmigiano you have to follow pretty strict manufacturing procedures to ensure that the cheeses have the same taste.
  
  It's pretty much the same thing as a brand except it's not produced by one structure but several independent structures. The main advantage is that you know what you are getting.
- Cheese bro.
Another way is by cutting the cheese, heh, with fillers like sawdust.
You steal the bacteria. Each breed of it makes different cheese.

I knew it! It was big cheese all along.

Big pharma was just a ruse!

Big Parma
- h

If you've ever actually cooked with authentic parmigiano reggiano you would understand why. It's absolutely fantastic stuff.

I used to cook with just whatever old cheddar was on sale at the big box stores. Then my father bought me a couple wedges of authentic parmesan and pecorino romano for my birthday. I will never go back. It's not even comparable. I always have them on hand now.

You're comparing cheddar to parmigiano. Those are two completely different styles of cheeses. Try the same recipe with a parmigiano and a grana padano, and it will be much closer, and you very well may appreciate the difference in price between the two.
- Implying that all cheeses of the same type are roughly equal is insanity if you actually cook. Even between different producers of the same region in the same country you can get wildly different texture, humidity, flavor, behavior when heated, etc.
- I understand that those are completely different but most people don't buy authentic Parmigiano, pecorino romano or grana padano(I need to try this one). They use the regular plain cheese you buy in the big box stores. So to the average person putting a micro chip in a cheese wheel (which I read wasn't even true) is an absurd notion. But I was pointing out that the regular cheddar/mozzarella the average person buys is bland garbage compared to these cheeses. I think people should try them and they will realize why they care so much about its authenticity.
Mmmmmmmmmmmm

Cheese
- This is the kind of culinary finesse I'm on the level of in this thread.
I mean I'm not surprised by it at all. Olive oil is a huge market for fakes, cheese is even more lucrative