Cottage cheese village green examination. "House in the Village", "Prostokvashino" or "Green Village"

“The taste and smell of half of the cottage cheese samples does not stand up to criticism and examination. During the quality check, a blatant forgery was also found. " This is the verdict of the Public Control organization.

IT DOESN'T BETTER

There is a big holiday ahead, which this year coincides with Workers' Day. The hostesses will cook not only Easter cakes, but also Easter. And for this dish, cottage cheese is important, or rather, good cottage cheese.

The activists decided to check how good he is in St. Petersburg stores. We bought ten samples, sent them for examination to the testing laboratory of the Test-St. Petersburg FBU.

And they were not even very surprised when they found out: only five types of product did not cause complaints from experts.

Nutritionists consider cottage cheese to be very useful. However, for several years now our examinations have shown with enviable regularity that not every cottage cheese can be bought, - say the press service of the "Public Control".

Every year, specialists from state accredited laboratories identify substandard and frankly falsified samples. Sends the results to Rospotrebnadzor... They go to court with claims. But low-quality cottage cheese does not disappear from the shelves of St. Petersburg stores. Only the methods of deceiving buyers, which are used by unscrupulous manufacturers and sellers, are changing.

An audit in 2010 showed that a third of the samples purchased for examination are counterfeit, that is, it contains non-dairy fats. In 2011, 25% of counterfeits were detected, in 2012 - 40%. In 2015, this figure dropped to 20%.

WHAT IS CHEAPER, SO WORSE?

This year, experts found five out of ten cottage cheese samples not meeting the requirements.

And one turned out to be a fake at all, - reports "Public control" - This is a 5% cottage cheese from LLC "Uzlovsky Dairy Plant", which is in the Tula region. - In the composition of this fake, according to the Test-St. Petersburg test report, there was no milk fat at all!

The cost of this “product” in the Sezon store (30, Marshal Zhukov Ave.) was suspiciously cheap - 34.50 per pack of 200 g. The quality - or rather, its complete absence - corresponded to the price completely.

- Possibly during production of this product instead of milk fat, a substitute was used, ”says Yulia Gramotina, head of the physical and chemical testing sector of the Test-St. Petersburg FBI.

The cottage cheese of the Uzlovsky Dairy Plant has already come to the attention of the Public Control in 2014. Then the examination revealed a discrepancy in it with the declared indicators for the mass fraction of fat and protein. And here is a new meeting with the now outright falsification. The manufacturer did not respond to the request of the Public Control to comment on the results of the examination.

Perhaps, with the regulatory authorities, where the relevant documents are sent, representatives « Uzlovsky Dairy Plant "will be more talkative, - make a helpless gesture in the" Public Control ".

WHY CHEESE IS SOUR

One sample of the type of cottage cheese did not pass the examination for organoleptic indicators, but simply turned out to be sour in taste. This is the "Red Price" purchased in the "Pyaterochka" store (16 Marshal Govorov St.). Curd 5%, made in OOO"PK" Obninsk dairy products "in the Kaluga region.

As noted in the protocol, he is "impure taste and smell, as well as an off-odor."

Sour taste was also found in the cottage cheese "Live Milk" (purchased in the O'Key hypermarket, Marshal Zhukov Ave., 31)

“Perhaps the products are stuck in the warehouse of our partner,” says Pavel Grishin, manager of the Trigorskaya farm in the Leningrad region. - The sour taste of the product indicates a violation of the storage temperature. If it goes beyond plus two or plus six degrees, then the acidity increases. We are responsible for the quality of the shipped products, but we cannot control what happens to it later.

As the manufacturer explains, in large retail chains, the goods after unloading for two to three hours can be stored in a warm room. And only then his hands reach him, and he gets into the refrigerator. During this time, anything can go bad.

REASONS MANY

“The production of cottage cheese is a complex process, many factors affect the quality of the final product,” says Yulia Gramotina. - This is not enough good raw materials, and a violation of the technological process or storage conditions. It is impossible to determine in laboratory conditions what exactly caused the violation of organoleptic parameters.

According to Anatoly Brusentsev, Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Biotechnology at ITMO University in St. Petersburg, one more reason can be added to these three reasons for the sour taste and unpleasant odor.

“The manufacturer could have used bad starter cultures,” says Anatoly Brusentsev. - Secondly, the preparation of cottage cheese could have gone initially spoiled milk, in which there was an extraneous microflora. Thirdly, they could violate the storage conditions. It happens that cottage cheese is frozen for storage. And if it was then defrosted several times or did not withstand the temperature of minus 18 degrees set in such cases, then foreign tastes and odors appear in the product. Finally, it happens that in fresh curd add the so-called products from the reserve, what is stuck in the warehouse. Then the old cottage cheese may well spoil the taste and smell of the fresh product.

COMPETENTLY

"POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS"

Head of the Department for Quality Control of Products and Services on Consumer Applications, SPb GBU "Center for Quality Control of Goods (Products), Works and Services" Larisa SHAPOVALOVA:

Traditional cottage cheese belongs to perishable dairy products, which are a favorable environment for the development of microorganisms. Therefore, it becomes potentially dangerous in case of any violation of storage and transportation conditions. Therefore, the buyer should pay special attention to the sanitary condition of the store where dairy products are sold.

The packaging of cottage cheese, when labeled by the manufacturer, must indicate the storage temperature, so it makes sense to make sure that the storage conditions in the refrigerated counter are met.

WHAT THE LABEL SAYS

The main component of cottage cheese is whole milk, normalized milk, skim milk, reconstituted (from dry) milk or their mixtures.

Also curd contains sourdough.

Often calcium chloride is present in the composition, which contributes to the formation of a clot and an increase in the calcium content in the finished product.

In the production of cottage cheese, rennet is often used, the addition of which makes it possible to curd milk faster by separating the protein components from the whey.

It is important how much fat is contained in the product. Skim cheese contains less than 1.8% fat. The fattest cottage cheese produced in accordance with GOST contains more than 23% fat.

BANAL BUT FACT

No matter how trite, but the examination of the cottage cheese confirmed: the well-known and well-proven manufacturers have no complaints about the quality. The cottage cheese of five brands fully complied with the requirements of regulatory documents. These are 5% Piskarevsky cottage cheese (St. Petersburg), 5% cottage cheese (Medvezhyegorsky Dairy Plant LLC, Karelia), 9% cottage cheese TM "Semeynaya Ferma" (Delta LLC, St. Petersburg), 5% cottage cheese TM "First Deal" ( LLC "Lakto-Novgorod", Staraya Russa) and 9% cottage cheese TM "SpbFERMA" (LLC "SPb FERMA", St. Petersburg).

Materials used www.spbkontrol.ru

Milk is a source of calcium, beneficial enzymes, fatty acids, vitamins, it has anti-toxic properties, has a beneficial effect on digestion and the nervous system. Nutritionists and product manufacturers are talking about this.

True, it is impossible to get real fresh milk in a big city: it cannot be sold. Therefore, instead of it we are offered "pasteurized", "sterilized", "ultra-pasteurized". Consumers are sure: there are no vitamins, but on the contrary it is full of "chemistry". Is it really? Experts of the Roskontrol Consumer Union sent to the laboratory ultra-pasteurized milk with a fat content of 3.2% of the brands Domik v Derevny, Avida, Prostokvashino, Sarafanovo, Ostankinskoe, Selo Zelenoe, Valio.

What is UHT?

The word consumers usually understand "killing all living things" is ultra pasteurization. This is actually a very fast processing process. raw milk steam with a temperature of 130 - 150 degrees. This allows you to preserve vitamins, mineral salts and valuable enzymes in the product. But the overwhelming majority of microbes in milk after this no longer survive. And this plays into our hands: you do not need to boil it additionally before using it. Otherwise, you will lose useful substances.

By the way, manufacturers assure that it is ultra-pasteurization (and not preservatives) that gives milk a chance to be stored for several months. The examination confirmed this: no preservatives were found in any of the samples.

How intensive the milk processing was in production can be judged by the indicator of the mass concentration of lactulose. The higher it is, the stronger the thermal effect on the product was. Judging by the results of the research, the producers treated the Prostokvashino milk most carefully, the highest concentration of lactulose in the Sarafanovo sample.

- The safety requirements for UHT milk are the same as for sterilized milk. The expiration dates are the same. The enzyme system of raw milk is completely destroyed during such processing. A substantial part of the water-soluble vitamins is destroyed. Fat-soluble vitamins are mostly retained. For ultra-pasteurization, just as for sterilization, the quality of milk and its thermal stability are important, therefore, the technology of such products allows the use of phosphates - salts that allow increasing the thermal stability of milk by improving its buffering capacity, which protects milk proteins from denaturation at elevated temperatures. - explains Chief Expert of Roscotrol Svetlana Dimitrieva.

No protein, no calcium?

According to the norms, 100 grams of cow's milk should contain 120 mg of calcium. Actually, it is for him that we drink milk. But, apparently, the producers have forgotten about such an important quality of milk. In all tested samples, it is slightly less: from 100 mg in Avida milk to 114 mg in Prostokvashino.

But another test - for the presence of vegetable fats (and, therefore, gross falsification) - delighted the experts. They were not found in any sample. Actually, like antibiotics. Therefore, all tested samples can be considered safe for health.

And, it would seem, everything is going rosy with this product. But it was not there. There were still a number of comments to the test participants. Not all manufacturers correctly indicated nutritional value their products. In most of the samples (except for Prostokvashino and Sarafanov), the protein was less than stated. For “Little House in the Village”, this turned into being included in the list with remarks, since the protein in this milk turned out to be even less than it should be according to GOST and what the technical regulations prescribe.

“The sample“ House in the village ”does not correspond to the identification criteria of TR CU 033/2013 with the name“ milk ”: the mass fraction of protein is below the permissible even taking into account the measurement error,” adds S. Dimitrieva.

Experts were not too satisfied with the organoleptic indicators of the samples. Only the products of the brands "House in the Village" and "Valio" did not cause any complaints. So, in the milk "Prostokvashino" and "Selo Zeloe" experts felt a salty taste, in "Avida" - fodder, in "Selo Zeleny", "Sarafanovo" and "Ostankinskoye" - the smell and taste of boiling.

In general, the results of the examination can be called satisfactory. Only 1 sample out of 7 is in the list of goods with comments, the rest are recommended for purchase.

As part of a fan study, experts from Roskachestvo studied 9% fat cottage cheese of 95 largest brands, whose total market share is more than 70%. The tests were carried out on 25 indicators of quality and safety. The goods were purchased in the regions of eight Russian federal districts: the Far Eastern, Volga, Northwestern, North Caucasian, Siberian, Ural, Central and Southern. The cost of cottage cheese at the time of purchase ranged from 34.4 to 200 rubles. per package (the study presented products in packages from 170 to 500 grams) and from 15 to 100 rubles. for 100 grams. According to the test results, the products of 18 brands meet the increased requirements of Roskachestvo, however, 17 of them will be able to apply for the Russian Quality Mark - the 18th cottage cheese, "Brest-Litovskiy", is produced in Belarus.

STANDARD OF THE RUSSIAN QUALITY SYSTEM

The standard of the Russian quality system for cottage cheese with a fat content of 9% in its main parameters is identical to the current GOST and has stricter requirements for quality and safety. So, potential applicants for receiving the State Quality Mark should not have food additives(stabilizers, acidity regulators, preservatives) and antibiotics both in those prohibited by the technical regulations of the Customs Union and in trace amounts. The level of localization of production for the award of the Russian Quality Mark to cottage cheese must be at least 85%.

Of course, here we will talk about the main violation - product falsification.

1. Add vegetable oil

Counterfeiting of dairy products with vegetable fats is not a widespread phenomenon. However, we have already encountered isolated cases in the study butter, sour cream and ice cream.

As it turned out, cottage cheese producers also save on raw materials - milk. Vegetable fats have been found in cottage cheese "BMK", "Merry meadow"(both - Bryansk region), "Volzhanochka"(Volgograd region), "Vyazemsky"(Khabarovsk region), Davlekanovo(Bashkiria), "Kind Burenka"(Saratov region), "Milk's farm" and "SMK"(Ulyanovsk region). Analysis of the fatty acid composition of this curd confirmed the results: it really lacks some fatty acids that are inherent in the milk component.

2. Replace protein with vegetable

To recognize a falsified protein, experts looked in the curd for plant DNA, that is, plant protein. Plant protein can be found in dairy products, for example, by adding soy concentrate. Found it in cottage cheese "Kamarchagsky"(Krasnoyarsk Territory), as well as in products where we found vegetable fats: Davlekanovo(Bashkiria), "Kind Burenka"(Saratov region), "Milk's farm" and "SMK"(both are from the Ulyanovsk region).

3. Add starch

The curd should contain nothing but milk and sourdough. However, some manufacturers seem to think otherwise. So, starch was found in cottage cheese "Volga open spaces"(Ulyanovsk region), "Kind Burenka"(Saratov region), « All year round» (Bryansk region), "Lakomo"(Bryansk region), "Milk's farm"(Ulyanovsk region), "Ruzsky"(My "SMK"(Ulyanovsk region).

- Nothing is allowed in the composition of cottage cheese except milk and sourdough and, perhaps, an enzyme, - confirms the head of the laboratory of technochemical control at VNIMI, candidate of technical sciences Elena Yurova... - Therefore, if something other than this is found (some kind of stabilizer or preservative), the product is classified as counterfeit. Most likely, the manufacturer uses starch not in its pure form, but as part of a stabilization system (stabilization system. - Ed.). It allows you to "collect" protein, retain moisture and create the necessary structure. There are people who are sensitive to some of the components from the stabilization system. For example, diabetics: starch is contraindicated for them, this complex carbohydrate negatively affects blood sugar. In addition, due to such additives, the amount of protein decreases, that is, the nutritional value of cottage cheese drops sharply. And the protein decreases - the calcium content decreases. As consumers, we also don't want to pay for a less valuable product.

4. Reduce fat content

When you buy cottage cheese with a fat content of 9%, you trust the labeling: what else to trust? However, in reality, it turns out that reality does not always correspond to what is indicated on the package.

So, the fat content is lower than that indicated in the labeling, in cottage cheese "Agrofirma" Lebedevskaya "(Novosibirsk region), "Amka"(Ryazan Oblast), "Baikal curd"(Irkutsk region), Baltcom(Bryansk region), "Belozorie"(Arkhangelsk region), "Your choice"(Bryansk region), "Good Nurse"(Kaliningrad region), "Green meadow"(Novosibirsk region), "Every day"(Bryansk region), (Primorsky region), "All year round"(Bryansk region), "Lakomo"(Bryansk region), "Losevo"(Leningrad region), "Pedigree plant PRINEVSKOE"(Leningrad region), "Severodvinsk-Milk"(Arkhangelsk region), "Farmer compound"(Amur region) and "Farmer-center.rf"(Tomsk region).

Moreover, the fat content of cottage cheese of one of these brands was 3.5%. As you can see, it is much more dietary than indicated on the package.

There were cases when the fat content of the curd was more than 30%! True, such a fat content is just in cottage cheese with vegetable fats: Davlekanovo, "Milk's farm" and "SMK".

5. Add preservatives

Sorbic acid was found in cottage cheese during tests "Amka"(Ryazan Oblast), "DmitroGorsk product"(Tver region), "Calorie. From the old village " (Krasnodar region), "Ostankinskoe"(Kaluga region), "Savushkin Khutorok"(Belarus) and "SMK"(Ulyanovsk region). By the way, in cottage cheese "Calorie. From the old village " benzoic acid was also found, but it is worth noting that this curd is made not according to GOST, but according to the organization's own standard.

Mold, yeast and Escherichia coli - how cottage cheese "lives"

There must be bacteria in the curd. But! Only useful ones (we'll talk about them below). Most of the curds in the study followed this postulate. However, there were also exceptions.

• Escherichia coli bacteria found in cottage cheese "Burenkino"(Kaluga region), "Vaskino happiness"(Tatarstan), "Green leaves"(Primorsky Krai), "Peasant farm" Velvet "(Primorsky Krai), "North Valley"(Nizhny Novgorod region) and "Farmer compound"(Amurskaya Oblast). Most likely, the reason for the presence of these bacteria is non-compliance with sterile conditions at work. Since the cottage cheese is packaged, the likelihood that E. coli got into the cottage cheese in a different way is very small.
• Excess in yeast or mold was found in curd of 14 brands: "Agrofirma" Lebedevskaya "(Novosibirsk region), "Bill"(MO), "Burenkino"(Kaluga region), "Your choice"(Bryansk region), "Vkusnoteevo"(Voronezh region), "Yours sincerely"(Tver region), "Red price"(Tver region), "Lakomo"(Bryansk region), "Milava"(Belarus), "Milk Grace"(Sverdlovsk region), "Milk's farm"(Ulyanovsk region), "First taste"(Chelyabinsk region), "PC" Milk "(Tyumen region) and "SMK"(Ulyanovsk region). However, there may be several reasons for these violations: low quality of raw materials supplied to production, violation of the sanitary state of production, non-compliance with the conditions of transportation, storage or sale of products. One of the main reasons for the spoilage of cottage cheese is storage on the counter without observing the temperature regime.

Experts did not find Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella and mycotoxins in the curd.

Now for the good bacteria

Or rather, useful ones. Indeed, in fact, cottage cheese is eaten precisely for their sake (and for the sake of protein, of course). How much healthy cottage cheese, you can find out by counting the number of lactic acid microorganisms. There must be at least a million of them per cubic centimeter!

Least of all lactic acid bacteria in cottage cheese "Vkusnoteevo"(Voronezh region), "GreenAgro"(Primorsky Krai), "Every day"(Bryansk region), "Kirzhach Dairy Plant"(Vladimir region), "Kosulinskoe milk"(Sverdlovsk region), "First taste"(Chelyabinsk region), Polevskoe(Sverdlovsk region), "Stozhok"(Chelyabinsk region) and "Farmer-center.rf"(Tomsk region). The listed cottage cheese is not as healthy as cottage cheese of other brands.

However, the executive secretary of the technical committee for standards for dairy products TK 470 / MTK 532, head of the standardization group of the Dairy Union of Russia, candidate of technical sciences Larisa Abdullaeva“Stood up” for such cottage cheese and urged not to consider this violation terrible:

- Recently, the issue of rationing useful lactic acid microflora in cottage cheese was discussed at the site of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and in the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, and in the branch institute VNIMI. Many experts in the field of milk and dairy products supported the reduction of the current legislative norm on the content of lactic acid microorganisms in cottage cheese made using new in-line production methods. Modern equipment for the production of cottage cheese involves its automated production in special containers that are heated for better whey separation. Such heating, of course, destroys an insignificant part of the microflora, but on the other hand, such cottage cheese becomes more crumbly, there is less moisture in it, which means that there is no environment for the development of harmful microorganisms, including. Such cottage cheese is safe and is popular with consumers for its special crumbly texture. Therefore, I would not "demonize" those samples of cottage cheese in which there is a little "lack" of lactic acid bacteria, this is not the worst violation for cottage cheese produced by an industrial flow method.

Read about which cottage cheese is the healthiest. .

Important note: Unfortunately, the high number of beneficial bacteria cannot compensate for the safety breaches that some curd producers have committed. Therefore, you should always look at the results as a whole.

The number of beneficial lactic acid microorganisms in the curd decreases with storage. Therefore, when buying, pay attention to the date of manufacture and shelf life. The fresher the cottage cheese is, the healthier it is.

Both useful and saves from diseases: cottage cheese with antibiotics

To prevent cows from getting sick or when they are already sick, many farmers resort to antibiotics. If the rules for using these drugs are violated, antibiotics can pass into milk. And already from milk - raw materials - into cottage cheese or any other product of dairy origin.

Among the 95 trademarks of cottage cheese tested, 11 violations were found. Excess antibiotics of the amphenicol group were recorded in cottage cheese "BMK", "Merry meadow"(both - Bryansk region), "Village Dairy Factory"(Kemerovo region) and "Kamarchagsky"(Krasnoyarsk region); tetracycline group - in cottage cheese "Green meadow"(Novosibirsk region), "Savushkin Khutorok"(Belarus), "Severodvinsk-Milk"(Arkhangelsk region) and "Tulsky"(Tula region); penicillins - in cottage cheese "Kuban milkman"(Krasnodar region); tetracycline group and penicillins together - in cottage cheese "The Good Nurse"(Kaliningrad region) and "Shepherd"(Kabardino-Balkaria).

Trace amounts of antibiotics were found in cottage cheese of more than half of the tested brands, but all these quantities do not exceed the norms established by law. Therefore, formally, the manufacturers of these products are not considered violators, but such cottage cheese cannot qualify for the Russian Quality Mark.

- Residues of veterinary drugs, including antibiotics, controlled in dairy products, are so small that they can be determined in milk only by very complex laboratory methods, - notes Larisa Abdullaeva... - At the same time, the sensitivity of such research methods should also be very high (for example, at the level of three ten-thousandths of a milligram in one kilogram of the product, in particular, for chloramphenicol). Unfortunately, such precise modern laboratory equipment is not available at all dairy factories. Most often, drug residues end up in the milk product of those cows who were treated. According to the law, such milk should not go to the plant at all. And the producers of cottage cheese would be incredibly happy if they received absolutely pure milk, without any residues of any veterinary drugs! But, alas, they have no power over veterinarians and their laboratories are not always able to determine microscopic residues of a wide range of antibiotics used to treat animals. The use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine and control of raw milk for its safety must be addressed at the farm level. And now, unfortunately, in animal husbandry there is a certain "lack of control" in the use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine, and one of the suppliers decided not to comply with the instructions of veterinarians, simply chasing a profit. The plant, having checked the milk for all legislative indicators, unfortunately, did not notice such a small concentration of the antibiotic in the raw milk.

Doctor of Medicine, nutritionist, reflexologist Mariyat Mukhina talked about why antibiotics in products harm the human body:

- If you regularly consume dairy products with this "additive", then the sensitivity of bacteria to drugs decreases. Antibiotics, which are contained in dairy products and get into our body from them, "train" bacteria and viruses. And they become antibiotic-resistant, immune to the action of drugs. In the future, in case of illness, antibiotics prescribed by a doctor may not have the desired effect. Scientists predict that not a single antibiotic will "work" by 2050! Therefore, now the question is being raised about the prohibition of antibiotic therapy in animal husbandry in principle. As the prevention of animal diseases, experts suggest using vaccination.

Milk and starter quality

LEAVEN... For the production of all studied curd, good quality starter cultures were used: with microflora characteristic of curd, without any extraneous cells in it.

MILK... To assess the quality of milk used to make cottage cheese, experts identified the mass fraction of SNF.

SOMO- dry skim milk residue. The higher the indicator, the higher the quality of the product. In turn, a low SNF indicator may indicate either that low-quality milk was used for the production of cottage cheese, or that part of the product was replaced by some kind of additives (for example, water, starch or other thickeners).

Low indicators of SOMO are recorded in cottage cheese "Kind Burenka"(Saratov region), "Milk's farm" and "SMK"(both are from the Ulyanovsk region). In all cases, the additive story is confirmed. These products contain vegetable fats and starch.

By the way, Dobraya Burenka cottage cheese has been previously studied by Roskachestvo. Then vegetable fats and low SNF were also found in it. We did not find starch in this curd earlier. But starch and reduced SNF were found in kefir of this brand.

Was raw or pasteurized milk used to make curd? In 94 cases - pasteurized. And only in the cottage cheese of one brand - Irbitsky(Sverdlovsk region) - peroxidase (enzyme. - Approx. ed.). This suggests that the milk from which the curd is made is most likely partially pasteurized. Tells Elena Yurova:

- This is a serious violation. If peroxidase is found in the curd, it means that the milk has undergone insufficient heat treatment, this product could contain residual microflora. And microflora can be different, including pathogenic or opportunistic. According to the law, cottage cheese must be made from pasteurized milk and heat-treated. If a person eats a product made from milk with insufficient heat treatment, it can be poisoned. And if infections remained in it (the cow was sick with something), then the consequences can be completely unpredictable.

As follows from what we wrote above, specifically in this investigated cottage cheese of the Irbitsky trademark, there were no problems with microflora, and we did not find any violations in terms of microbiological indicators. But if the manufacturer uses partially pasteurized milk, this is a wake-up call for the consumer. What is the probability that all cows - "suppliers" of milk for Irbitsky cottage cheese - will be healthy?

The quality of milk from well-known Russian brands was checked by specialists from the Roskontrol independent quality control system.

As you know, milk is a source of calcium, beneficial enzymes, fatty acids, vitamins. Milk has anti-toxic properties, has a beneficial effect on digestion and the nervous system. Of course, fresh milk is not available to most of the townspeople and, moreover, it is prohibited for sale due to the possibility of preservation and reproduction of pathogens in it. On the shelves of Ulyanovsk stores, we see packages and bottles with the words “pasteurized”, “sterilized”, “ultra-pasteurized”.

Are vitamins stored in such milk, how safe is it, and is there anything extra added to it? Specialists independent quality control system "Roskontrol" tested UHT milk with a fat content of 3.2% of the brands Domik v Derevne, Avida, Prostokvashino, Sarafanovo, Ostankinskoye, Selo Zelenoe, Valio.

What is UHT?

Ultra pasteurization is not pasteurization, - explained the chief expert of Roskontrol Svetlana Dimitrieva. - In fact, the main difference from sterilization, which, as a rule, is carried out in autoclaves, is that during ultra-pasteurization, direct introduction of live steam into the product is used - bubbling. And sterilization happens almost instantly. The safety requirements for UHT milk are the same as for sterilized milk. The expiration dates are the same. The enzyme system of raw milk is completely destroyed during such processing. A substantial part of the water-soluble vitamins is destroyed. Fat-soluble vitamins are mostly retained. For ultra-pasteurization, just like for sterilization, the quality of milk and its heat resistance are important. Therefore, in the technology of such products, the use of phosphates - salts is allowed, which makes it possible to increase the thermal stability of milk by improving its buffering capacity. This prevents milk proteins from denaturing at elevated temperatures.

What about calcium?

According to the reference data, 100 grams of cow's milk should contain 120 mg of calcium. In all tested samples, it turned out to be slightly less: from 100 mg in Avida milk to 114 mg in Prostokvashino. This is because a small amount of calcium salts is lost during processing.

The experts were pleased with the low content in the tested samples of other salts - phosphates. As a result of past examinations, Roskontrol has repeatedly revealed signs of adding phosphates to milk. Obviously, the manufacturers drew the right conclusions and improved the quality of their products.

What was not found in milk?

None of the samples contains vegetable fats, which are often used to counterfeit dairy products (more often - more fatty, and whole milk - relatively rarely). The examination did not reveal antibiotics either. All tested samples can be considered safe for health.

Test results

In general, the results of the examination can be called satisfactory. 6 out of 7 tested samples were recommended for purchase. Only milk "House in the village" did not pass the test, being in the list of goods with remarks.

Milk "Prostokvashino" received the highest rating from all samples - 75 points. It meets safety requirements, does not contain vegetable fats. The fatty acid composition of the fat phase corresponds to milk fat... The sample has a relatively high mass fraction of protein - 3.18%. The mass concentration of lactulose is relatively low.

Milk "Valio" received 73 points. This sample complies with safety requirements, does not contain vegetable fats. The fatty acid composition of the fatty phase of the product corresponds to milk fat. Has good organoleptic properties.

Experts gave 71 points to the milk "Sarafanovo". This product complies with safety requirements, does not contain vegetable fats. The fatty acid composition of the fatty phase of the product corresponds to milk fat. The sample has a relatively high mass fraction of protein - 3.06%.

Milk "Ostankinskoe" was rated 68 points. It meets safety requirements, does not contain vegetable fats. The fatty acid composition of the fatty phase of the product corresponds to milk fat. The mass concentration of lactulose is relatively low.

64 points received from the experts of "Roskontrol" milk "Green Village". It meets safety requirements, does not contain vegetable fats. The fatty acid composition of the fatty phase of the product corresponds to milk fat.

Avida milk received one point less from the experts. It also meets safety requirements and does not contain vegetable fats. The fatty acid composition of the fatty phase of the product corresponds to milk fat.

A higher mark - 67 points - was given to the milk "House in the Village". It meets safety requirements, has good organoleptic properties, does not contain vegetable fats. The fatty acid composition of the fatty phase corresponds to milk fat. The mass concentration of lactulose is relatively low, but ... The product milk "House in the village" does not correspond to the identification criteria of the technical regulation with the name "milk". The fact is that the mass fraction of protein in it is below the permissible level, even taking into account the error. In terms of this indicator, it does not correspond to the markings and those indicated in the marking of GOST 31450-2013: the negative deviation was 10%.

In what way did the manufacturers cheat?

Despite the seemingly rosy picture, there were still comments to the test participants. So, for example, the experts were not too happy with the organoleptic indicators of the samples. Only the products of the Domik v Derevne and Valio brands did not cause any complaints. So, in the milk "Prostokvashino" and "Selo Zeloe" experts felt a salty taste, in "Avida" - fodder, in "Selo Zeleny", "Sarafanovo" and "Ostankinskoye" - the smell and taste of boiling. In addition, not all manufacturers correctly indicated the nutritional value of their products. In most of the samples (except for Prostokvashino and Sarafanov), the protein was less than stated. For "Little House in the Village" it turned into an entry into the "List of goods with remarks", since the protein in this milk turned out to be even less than it should be according to GOST and what the technical regulations prescribe.

Andrey KORCHAGIN