UL, a global safety science organization, recently announced that it and Applied DNA Sciences have joined forces to form a strategic partnership that will lay the foundation for a significant new development in product authentication and supply chain traceability.
This partnership will enable UL to offer a series of Verification Marks for point-of-origin and product content, utilizing Applied DNA’s SigNature molecular tags. The DNA tag marks products in order to create a unique “fingerprint” that can be traced throughout a product’s journey in the supply chain. This technology combined with UL’s expertise and experience in testing, audit, and inspection service offerings equips manufacturers, governments, trade organizations, brands and end consumers with a tool to validate the very source and content of products, thus instilling an added level of confidence and empowering trust.
“UL strives to help manufacturers, brands and retailers develop and bring safer products to market and empower consumer trust,” said Denis Koh, VP and GM, Consumer & Retail Services division, UL. “The Verification Mark programs will help enable brands, retailers and manufacturers to trace and authenticate goods as they move along the supply chain and provide greater confidence that products enter the market as intended and from trusted sources.”
UL’s Verification Mark provides third-party verification, demonstrating to consumers that the supplier is taking steps to lead in the industry by having their products evaluated against UL’s highest standards for quality and integrity. Furthermore, the Verification Mark program from UL helps cut through messaging and promotional clutter by making independent, objective and scientifically-based assessments of product content and point-of-origin claims substantiated by the DNA tagging technology from Applied DNA Sciences.
“The UL Mark Verification program is an ideal platform for our SigNature molecular tags to assure brands, and consumers alike, the provenance of origin and to substantiate key marketing claims,” said Dr. James Hayward, President and CEO, Applied DNA. “The global footprint and existing relationships of the UL organization afford Applied DNA a unique opportunity to engage key customers and quickly scale in-field testing services to support supply chain quality and traceability requirements.”
Ken Briodagh is a writer and editor with more than a decade of experience under his belt. He is in love with technology and if he had his druthers would beta test everything from shoe phones to flying cars.Edited by
Ken Briodagh
