Detection of counterfeit cosmetic products using image processing and text extraction

Abstract

The growing popularity of the cosmetics industry has made it vulnerable to duplication and counterfeiting. One in every five individuals purchases counterfeits cosmetics. Consumption of such cosmetics can be harmful to health. They might sometimes contain chemicals such as arsenic or other carcinogenic chemicals. The packagings of the counterfeit products are designed in such a manner that someone can barely differentiate it from the original one. The packaging of the duplicate products differs from that of the original in terms of certain features such as dimension, font style, font size, color, and ingredients. This paper reports the development of a system that uses the application of image processing and text extraction techniques that will enable a user to determine the authenticity of the test product. The system uses the features of the authentic product and compares them with the features of the test product to determine its authenticity. The system has been tested with some of the counterfeit and original cosmetic products.