Shanghai Daily news

The producers of Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, reputed as "the king of crabs," will mark their products with "rings" this year in order to differentiate them from common crabs.

The Yangcheng Lake Crab Trade Association, which manages production and sales of the most delicious crabs, decided to put the "rings" on the claws of Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, as many producers of crabs from other parts of the country often mark their goods as Yangcheng Lake crabs.

"It is estimated that more than 100,000 tons of hairy crabs claimed to be 'Yangcheng Lake' crabs were sold annually in recent years. But the annual output of authentic crabs was just 1,000 tons," said Yang Weilong, director of the association.

The rings, which are made of materials meeting food safety standards, are expected to help solve the problem.

The rings contain the name of the sales company, a phone number to authenticate the crabs and an 18-digit ID number. Consumers can either phone or send a short message to the authentication number to see if the crabs really came from the renowned lake.

"Each crab has its own ID number generated by a computer. The ring can't be opened without destroying it," said Shen Xuexing, secretary-general of the association.

Last year the association tried to stop counterfeiters with laser printed tags attached to crab shells.

"But that anti-counterfeiting method didn't work well because it was difficult for consumers to tell real laser print from fake one," Yang said. "Some shrewd businessmen bought laser printers to print their own tags in towns around Yangcheng Lake," Yang said, saying the tags were sold for 0.5 yuan (6 US cents) each.

The association estimates only 10 percent of the crabs bearing laser tags sold in local markets last year were genuine.

This year, Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs will go on sale in the local market around September 20. About 50 to 60 percent of the 1,200 tons produced this year have been earmarked for sale in local markets.