Using Cesium-137 testing to find counterfeit wine

kitchensisters.org

50 points by bookofjoe 4 days ago


hadlock - 3 days ago

Apparently there are companies out there who engineer otherwise inert particles, or mixes of particles, that fluoresce under specific wavelengths, for example Mobil might add the particles to their premium Mobile 1 synthetic motor oil product to find counterfeit products in certain markets. By opening a bottle of oil purchased off the shelf they can hit it with ~620nm && ~580nm and if it does not respond correctly, it is relatively easy to demonstrate that it is counterfeit and quickly get it removed from shelves. This can also be applied to crude oil and quietly tested at the refinery to verify it hasn't been diluted with similar product.

ChuckMcM - 3 days ago

Pretty wild story. Reminded me of the story of salvaging a Roman trade vessel off the coast of Greece. Everyone carefully cataloged and managed the various amphorae of trade goods, and one of the divers made off with a quarter million dollars worth of lead keel weights. :-)

kayo_20211030 - 3 days ago

If I buy a bottle of plonk for $20 and it tastes as I except, I don't stress about what gamma rays it's emitting. I just reckon I got what I paid for. Of course, if I payed $1 million, and I dare not open it, I might stress quite a lot. But really, that's for other people not me. I sadly don't have a million bucks to spend on wine.

lacoolj - 3 days ago

Oh cool this was what they did in White Collar! Good ol' Neal Caffery vs. Matt Kessler (I think was his name)

Time to re-watch

- 3 days ago
[deleted]
vzaliva - 3 days ago

It should be noted that cesium dating works for counterits produced in last ~60 years (or less) as Cesium-137 half-life of about 30 years.

frankfrank13 - 3 days ago

i want a Catch Me if you Can about this guy -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Kurniawan

gdbsjjdn - 3 days ago

Insane to see the government resources used to prosecute this - it's basically play money for rich guys who want to show off.