Sun Chemical Security has created authentication solutions that have overcome common industry roadblocks. Our forensic product authentication technology is:
•Cost Effective
•Taggant Free
•Portable
•Able To Detect Outliers

Testing Products Efficiently And Cost Effectively

By using Sun Chemical’s forensic product authentication technology, manufacturers can test products efficiently and cost effectively. Typical authentication tests can only be done in a lab at a cost of thousands of dollars. Sun Chemical’s technology is portable, takes only a few minutes and is considerably less expensive.

What’s more, no taggants or any other manufacturing changes to the product are required – a significant benefit for the pharmaceutical and beverage and spirits markets.

In addition to providing the manufacturer with a “yes/no answer,” Sun Chemical’s forensic technology has the ability to group non-authentic products and identify outliers. These outliers generally have the same properties and can often be traced to the same counterfeiter. 

How Forensic Technology Works

With forensic technology, products are tested for authenticity by combining them with a set of fluorescent dyes. The resulting fluorescence pattern (or fingerprint) is compared to the pattern expected for the authentic brand or product. If the pattern does not match, a sample is flagged as non-authentic.

If a beverage or perfume is suspected of being diluted, a small sample can be mixed with the special ink in a plastic tray and inserted into a portable scanner. A chart is printed out that can be compared with a readout from an authentic sample.

The authentication method is based on the extreme sensitivity of fluorescent dyes to their chemical environment. Even slight changes in chemical composition can modify the fluorescence of a given dye. Sun Chemical exploits this sensitivity to generate a fluorescence pattern that is unique to a given product. This serves as the fingerprint used to determine product authenticity. The system is so sensitive it can determine the difference between an authentic bottle of liquor and one that has been watered down by a few ounces to boost profits.
 
No taggants or any other manufacturing changes to the product are required – the product’s unique chemical composition provides all the information needed for authentication. Once the protocol is defined, testing large numbers of samples is easily accomplished at field sites, regional laboratories or at a Sun Chemical facility.

Because it does not alter the chemistry of a product, this taggant-free solution can be used on FDA approved substances like pharmaceuticals.
This is good news, considering drug companies report an increased threat from counterfeits entering the legitimate supply chains around the world. Foreign pharmacies are stocked with expertly copied versions of some of the most profitable medicines currently manufactured – patented products that generate hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of business worldwide.

In fact, hundreds of thousands of people have died from fake drugs that are either toxic or do not contain the active ingredients consumers need. In the worst cases, the fakes are commingled with legitimate products. You may have two bad pills mixed with 28 authentic ones. These counterfeits can decimate a brand and ruin a company.