Russian market is flooded with fake food

After the introduction of the embargo and the devaluation of the ruble, the Russian market is flooded with fake food. Imports of palm oil, which is used to make fake milk, cottage cheese and cheese, grew by a third. The share of fake dairy products in certain categories of goods can reach 50%. In Rosselkhoznadzor argue that the buyer will not be able to distinguish between real and fake food.

Russia has become the largest importer of palm oil. “We are aware of this issue. But, solving it, we cannot go beyond the scope of our powers, limited by legislation, ”said Alexey Alekseenko, assistant to the head of the Rosselkhoznadzor.

The abnormal growth of palm oil imports and the suspicious flourishing of cheese production in the country have already been noticed by many experts. Palm oil turned out to be almost the only type of product, the import of which is increasing even against the background of the product embargo and import substitution.

According to official statistics, in January-February of this year, imports of palm oil to Russia grew by 37% compared to the same period of 2014 of the year. Domestic milk production declined by almost 2% over this period. But the production of cheese and cheese products increased by about 33%.

It could be assumed that the production of cheese increased due to purchases of foreign milk, but this is not confirmed by statistics: in January-February of this year, Russia purchased about 34% less on the world market of milk and non-thickened cream than a year ago. As Nikolaev reminds, the main suppliers of palm oil are Indonesia, the Netherlands, and Malaysia.

Milk producers also talk about a growing problem: the volume of milk forgery is increasing in the country. “After the ban on the import of dairy products, the production of cheese in the country has increased significantly. But there was practically no increase in the production of raw milk, although only raw milk can be used for the production of cheese. This means that the country has increased the volume of production of cheese products and the volume of falsification, ”says the chairman of the board of the national union of milk producers“ Soyuzmoloko ”Andrey Danilenko.

Cheese products are cheaper, and they are more in demand in the conditions of high inflation. Diligent manufacturers indicate on the label that they used vegetable fats in their production, and the consumer himself has the right to make a choice. “Another thing is when products with vegetable fats on the shelves are sold under the guise of natural dairy. For the cheese-making and butter-making branches, the problem of falsification takes on a catastrophic scale, ”Danilenko reports. - If we take all the dairy products, then on average in the country, the volume of counterfeit, according to our estimates, is 10%. Among the more milk-rich foods, the fraud share can reach 20%, for some items - 50%. ”

In Rosselkhoznadzor also indicate that a simple buyer in the store will not be able to determine whether the product contains palm oil or not. According to Alexei Alekseenko, manufacturers can use, in addition to vegetable fats, also synthetic flavorings, masking that the product is not made from natural raw materials. “That is, this is no longer food, but a dummy of food,” says Alekseenko.