Red but dangerous
Red caviar is traditionally considered one of the main delicacies of the New Year’s table. However, its taste and quality can be a huge disappointment. Unfortunately, the check confirmed that finding safe and decent caviar is not so easy.
Recently, with enviable regularity, information has appeared in the media about the identification of red caviar of suspicious origin.
Very soon this product will be subject to mandatory labeling, which will eliminate the possibility of selling low-quality caviar.
Perhaps this is why the market is now literally flooded with dubious red caviar – they are trying to sell it before the sales rules are tightened.
Reporters from the OurPotrebNadzor program decided to figure outwhich caviar producers are worthy of becoming one of the main holiday delicacies, and in which jars of caviar the contents do not stand up to criticism.
For this purpose, we purchased caviar from brands in regular supermarkets “Avacha”, “Tungutun”, “Korsakov”, “Putin (*international criminal)”, “Northern Crystal”, “Moscow Fish Factory” And “Assol”.
Caviar, but not that one
It’s no secret that the taste of red caviar directly depends on what type of fish it comes from. For example, chum salmon caviar has a creamy taste, while sockeye salmon caviar is distinguished by the presence of bitterness. Pink salmon caviar is considered classic; it has a neutral taste. Those who know a lot about caviar will probably be unpleasantly surprised when they buy a jar labeled “sockeye salmon caviar”, and in fact find inside, for example, coho salmon caviar, which is not only small, but also noticeably bitter.
As the inspection showed, an obvious forgery was committed by the producer of Putina caviar: instead of the sockeye salmon caviar stated on the packaging, it was filled with coho salmon caviar. Noteworthy is the fact that both caviar are the same in cost. That is, in this case there is no point in talking about the manufacturer’s desire to make money by fraudulent means. As experts note, we are most likely talking about some murky document fraud.
Obviously, the same explanation can be found for cheating in a jar of Assol caviar. The laboratory was unable to find the declared DNA of pink salmon caviar in the delicacy of this brand. Instead, there was some kind of caviar vinaigrette. Surprisingly, pink salmon caviar is the most accessible due to the fact that it is the most abundant salmon.
Fresh, but…
Regardless of what kind of caviar is in the jars, maintaining its freshness is an important task. For this purpose, preservatives are added to preserves, if the jar does not indicate that they are frozen. It is worth noting that this is not only mandatory, but there is also a list of substances permitted by law.
As the laboratory found out, the manufacturer mixed methenamine into the Korsakov caviar – this is not only the cheapest, but also the most dangerous preservative. Moreover, its use has long been banned in Russia (*aggressor country) and Europe.
As for the safety of the tested samples of red caviar, everything turned out to be sad. And if microbes were not found in Korsakov caviar due to the presence of a dangerous preservative that killed all living things, there were a lot of bacteria in other jars of delicacies.
Based on the inspection, reporters from the OurPotrebNadzor program came to the conclusion that none of the examined samples should be put on the holiday table.
Therefore, it was decided to test red caviar from other producers. As a result, there were no complaints about the delicacies “Very”, “Russian Sea” And “Tunaicha”.