Cognac turned out to be fake

Roskachestvo checked the products on the market of Russian cognac of the economy segment (up to 900 rubles per 0.5 liter) and found that 50% of the studied products contain signs of falsification.

As Aleksey Nebolsin, an independent expert on the alcohol market, explained during a press conference at DOS to discuss the results of the Roskachestvo inspection, it has long been known that not all cognac sold in our country is made from grape spirit:

“What is cognac? This is an alcoholic product that is made exclusively from alcohol of grape origin, macerated in oak barrels for a period of at least three years. But, as you know, Her Majesty profit rules everything … The most expensive alcohol is fruit alcohol, obtained from strawberries, strawberries; followed by grape spirit; cheaper than grape alcohol is calvados, made from apples, and grain. And the cheapest alcohol is obtained from sugar beets, corn or black carrots. Our producers, in order to reduce the cost, dilute grape spirit with cheaper raw materials and then insist on shavings instead of maceration in an oak barrel. This, in fact, is where the violations lie. But you need to understand that such cognac, which is made in violation of GOST, is absolutely safe for health, and Roskachestvo declares this in all its studies. Although, yes, there are traces of alcohols of non-grape origin.

Another source of counterfeit in the Russian cognac market, according to Alexei Nebolsin, may be imported supplies:

“We (in the Russian Federation. – S.I.) produces 95 million liters of brandy per year, and raw materials – only 20 million liters. 75 million liters come in bulk from abroad (mainly from Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc.). Grape spirits come from there, but of low quality, and often mixed with spirits of non-grape origin. They go through customs, as there is no way to do complex spectral analysis and detect violations. Manufacturers add shavings to such raw materials, here’s cognac for you!

As another participant of the press conference, the chairman of the organization “Public Consumer Initiative”, deputy chairman of the Public Council under Rospotrebnadzor Oleg Pavlov, clarified, any food product that contains undeclared or substituted components is a counterfeit:

“This is exactly what the study of Roskachestvo is about, when cognac alcohol was replaced with other spirits. Yes, such products are not hazardous to health, but the consumer, purchasing such products, has the right to buy what he pays for, that is, cognac spirit aged in a certain way. In this case, we are talking about systematic unfair practices that infringe on the interests of consumers. Yes, the state will receive its excises, it will receive its taxes, but the consumer does not receive a quality product. At the same time, if you look more broadly, this problem applies to all food products, because replacing components with cheaper ones, simplifying the production process is already becoming the norm. And if we talk about the reason for such a scale now, then this is a moratorium on inspections, when a company, even if violations are found in it, does not receive any serious penalties and suspension of activities, but just a warning, and you can hang it in a frame and wait, when the next one comes. If we talk about what needs to be done, then this is a toughening of responsibility for falsification.”

Now, according to Oleg Pavlov, manufacturers are unlikely to bear any serious responsibility for such a “conditionally dangerous” falsification, which was discovered by Roskachestvo in cognac products. There will be no criminal cases or mass seizure of products. All this, according to him, remains on the shelves and warehouses, is freely sold, and this is the main problem.

Sergei Ishkov.

Photo by Moskovskaya Pravda