Aletheia University said it hopes its application for radio frequency identification (RFID) technology can help alleviate consumer concern over hand-shaken soft drinks, following revelations some chain stores are using mixed tea leaves.
According to school of management professor Hong Chao-fu (洪朝富), there is no question concerning the quality of Taiwanese tea leaves, but the profit made using mixed leaves is too great.
Vietnamese-grown tea leaves cost NT$100 per kilogram, while Taiwanese tea leaves cost NT$3,000 per kilogram, Hong said, adding that mixed leaves have become common due to a lack of certification measures.
Photo courtesy of the Department of Health
Hong said it was during a conversation with an alumnus of the school that the third-party certification concept came into being.
The concept entails using cameras to capture the processing procedure of tea leaves, then uploading the footage to a cloud server, Hong said.
Tea factories working with the project could later put an RFID tag on tea packaging, allowing consumers to access the stored data on the cloud server via the Near Field Communication (NFC) system on smart phones, Hong said.
Tea factories were reluctant to cooperate with the project due to the “secret touch” each factory uses to handle their tea leaves, Hong said, adding that they persuaded owners to try the project as the cameras are set on wide-angle view.
It would be close enough to capture the process of making and packaging tea leaves, but not close enough to capture the secrets of the factories, Hong said.
It took at two days, of ceaseless filming to record an entire process.
Hong said he believed that only by recording an entirely transparent packaging process would the project become credible, adding that he hoped the government would take over the project as it would be more credible.
Chen Ping-kuo (陳屏國), another member of the project said, the RFID tag would include algorithms that would prevent hacking or faking data by asking for confirmation with the cloud server.
Since the tags are linked directly to cloud servers and the team has established a center to monitor all information, any fake data would not show up when the consumer scans the tag, Chen said.
Chen said that compared with QR codes, RFID tags are able to carry more data and are less likely to be forged, adding that the tags would allow a better degree of protection for the quality of Taiwanese tea leaves.
“The project aims to increase the value of Taiwanese tea leaves by at least 20 percent as well as attempting to eradicate the problem of tea factories attempting to mix leaves to maximize profit,” Hong said.
Hong added that the project would also seek to induct students and allow them to gain some practical experience.
Students that have selected courses in practical implementation of e-commerce and the digitization of businesses would be able to participate in the project and visit the tea factories, Hong said.
The project would also induct students from the department of Taiwanese literature in hopes of increasing the project’s cultural creativity, Hong said.
“The project might help the Taiwanese tea industry to pull out from the shadows cast by food security,” he said, adding that the technology could also be used in the production of coffee beans and other produce.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and