Red caviar test: what do we eat?

The independent testing center “Test” again this year tested red caviar sold in Ukraine. 9 brands were selected for the test. Testing of red caviar took place according to the classical scheme: evaluation of labeling and packaging, testing of the product in the laboratory, as well as evaluation of the taste characteristics of the product.

Labeling and packaging

I was pleasantly surprised by the packaging of the caviar: all jars have a key for easy opening. But there were comments regarding the labeling. Thus, the labels of the products “Ostrov”, “Dalmore”, “Russian Ambassador” and “Furshet” do not indicate the fish from which the caviar is taken. But this is a fundamentally important point on which the taste characteristics and price of the product depend. The concept of salmon caviar implies that it is taken from fish of the salmon family: chum salmon, pink salmon, sockeye salmon, trout, etc.

On the ACC caviar, the marking is applied in terribly small black font on a dark green background - as a result, it is completely unreadable. For such mockery of the consumer, the labeling of this product was reduced to “bad”. The font of the caviar "Dalmore" and "Ostrov" is a little small, but still better than that of "ACC".

Laboratory research

During laboratory studies, the net weight and preservative content of the caviar were checked. Underweight is one of the most ancient and widespread methods of falsification. This is especially true for caviar due to its considerable cost. The permissible deviation in net weight downwards is 3%. All 9 samples met this standard, although “Ostrov”, “Aniva” and “Furshet” were on the very edge of this standard.

As for preservatives, in previous testing, two samples showed an excess of their content in the product. This time it worked out: both the amount of hexamine and the amount of sorbic acid did not exceed the prescribed 0.1% for each substance. It is a little strange that in addition to these two preservatives, the “promised” sodium benzoate was not found in the “Russian Ambassador” caviar. This third preservative was also tested in all samples, just in case, but was not detected in the caviar.

As a result, there were no comments regarding the physicochemical parameters of the caviar, and organoleptics became the decisive factor in arriving at the overall ratings.

Organoleptic evaluation

The requirements for the organoleptic characteristics of caviar are as follows. Externally, the eggs should be clean, whole, uniform in color, without films. A small amount of shelled eggs is allowed. As for the consistency, the most attractive is elastic caviar, in which the eggs are separated from each other (separable). To prevent the eggs from sticking together, add sunflower oil to the caviar. The smell and taste should be pleasant, characteristic of fish caviar; there may be a slight bitter taste, for example, for sockeye salmon.

If we talk about the characteristics of caviar of different fish, then the traditional consumer understanding of “red caviar” includes the caviar of chum salmon and pink salmon: its color is more orange than red, the eggs are large, and there is practically no bitter taste. The color of sockeye salmon caviar is red, bright red. The taste of sockeye salmon caviar is distinguished by the presence of a natural bitterness. Trout caviar stands out from others due to its denser egg shell. Ratings for the organoleptic characteristics of caviar, as well as comments on them, are given in the table (see table).

Price and quality

As for the price of caviar, in view of the fact that jars of caviar are of different weights (there are both 130g and 120g), we compared the cost of 100g of the product. This year the price of 100g of product ranges from 37 UAH. up to 72 UAH An important conclusion from testing: there is a clear dependence of the price of caviar on its quality: the more expensive the caviar, the better it is.

The most affordable sample of ACC caviar (36.55 UAH per 100g) received only a “satisfactory” rating. The same rating applies to Aniva caviar.

The overall rating is “good” for the red caviar “Furshet”, “Russian Ambassador”, “Dalmore” and “Island”.

There are three “excellent students” according to the test results this year: “K