Falsifiers will be brought under the article

The problem is ripe

In June of this year, the head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Sergei Dankvert, made a report at a plenary meeting of the State Duma, where, among other things, he touched upon the sore subject of food falsification.

A month later, at the end of July, the State Duma adopted a resolution on the development of a bill that should introduce criminal and administrative liability for falsification of food products during their production and circulation. As State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin emphasized, such changes to the legislation must be made “urgently.”

“We need to introduce criminal liability for those who use such substitutes (palm oil , beef fat, etc. - ViZh). It is clear that they are cheaper, they make more profit, but, on the other hand, they are harmful to health,” said Vyacheslav Volodin after the speech of the head of Rosselkhoznadzor.

The loudest and most tragic story of this year related to counterfeit food products was the mass poisoning of people with surrogate cider. In early June, a flaming drink containing lethal concentrations of methanol caused the death of 36 people.

Unsafe milk

At the same time, many other facts of falsification remain behind the scenes. As the press service of Rosselkhoznadzor reported, dairy products are most often counterfeited. During the first half of 2023, the department’s laboratories examined more than 9.5 thousand samples of livestock products: dairy, fish, meat, egg products, honey and feed. More than a thousand samples did not correspond to the declared composition, that is, they were falsified, and in 724 cases these turned out to be dairy products. In them, experts, in particular, found vegetable oils, beef fat, undeclared food additives and prohibited microbial transglutaminase, an enzyme with unproven safety. Most often, dishonest manufacturers add the cheapest palm oil to cream, cheese and condensed milk to save money. 

“In addition to deceiving consumers, there is also a great danger to people’s health. When palm oil is heated, 3-MCPD (monochloropropanediol) and glycidol are formed - low-molecular compounds, derivatives of glycerol, which are toxic and carcinogenic pollutants,” said Leonid Kish, director of the All-Russian State Center for Quality and Standardization of Medicines for Animals and Feed ( FSBI “ VGNKI" Rosselkhoznadzor). 

According to him, the harm that this form of falsification causes to human health has a delayed effect.

Every tenth

According to Rosselkhoznadzor estimates, today 10.5% of livestock products circulating on the market, including imported ones, do not pass quality control. The same figures are given by Roskachestvo: in 2022, 10% of the products examined by the organization turned out to be counterfeit. In the first half of 2023, 11% of such products were identified. Most often, Roskachestvo experts found vegetable fats in products that the manufacturer “forgot” to indicate on the label. 

The anti-leaders for this indicator were: 

· butter (30% of products);
· Edam and Gouda cheese (28%);
· UHT milk (23%);
· ice cream (18%). 

Roskachestvo specialists detect the most cases of counterfeiting in goods of the economy segment and products of small regional enterprises. In meat products, more expensive meat is replaced with cheaper meat. The situation is the same with canned fish, where, for example, instead of saury they use cheaper Iwashi herring. 

Impunity as an incentive for fraudsters 

Rosselkhoznadzor notes that electronic veterinary certification and a product traceability system “from field to counter” help improve the market. However, even those manufacturers who have already been caught using counterfeit products are looking for new ways to make money at the expense of consumer health, the department admits. 

“Today the legislation does not provide for strict measures for violators that would allow them to finally resolve the issue of product counterfeiting, which as a result encourages fraudsters to look for new ways of dishonest work,” commented the press service of Rosselkhoznadzor. 

For example, if a milk manufacturer uses vegetable fat but does not indicate it in the labeling, the law classifies this as consumer deception. According to the current Code of Administrative Offenses, the maximum penalty for such a violation for a company is a fine of 500 thousand rubles. 

“But, as practice shows, in the face of large and unaccounted profits, this does not stop counterfeiters,” says the head of the Dairy Union of Russia Lyudmila Manitskaya, chairman of the Public Council under Rosselkhoznadzor. 

Honest people have nothing to fear.

The Dairy Union believes that the severity of criminal liability will help keep violators “from crossing the red line.”

 “In addition, there should be real responsibility not only for counterfeit manufacturers, but also for retail chains for selling such products. This may require amendments to regulations governing trade activities,” says Lyudmila Manitskaya.

A number of manufacturers are also in favor of establishing criminal liability for counterfeiters. 

“It is criminal when people are fed something that is not written about on the packaging. Back in 2016, I spoke about introducing criminal liability for misleading the buyer. If it says that the cheese contains milk, then there should be milk. If you make a product with a milk substitute, write honestly about it,” said Dmitry Matveev, president of the Kabosh group of companies.

Prevent excesses

When tightening sanctions , it is important to divide specific forms of falsification according to the degree of danger and consequences and establish punishment in accordance with the severity of the violation, Lyudmila Manitskaya is sure. 

“It is necessary to very clearly define and spell out which elements of the violation are classified administratively and which ones become criminal. I would not like to allow any excesses. Business should feel responsibility, but not heavy pressure. Perhaps it would be advisable to provide for criminal liability for repeated violations,” says the head of the Dairy Union.