Divide by fat

The document proposing to ban the laying out of dairy and milk-containing products on one shelf since January 1, 2019 prepared by the Ministry of industry and trade is currently being discussed in public. The attitude to the document is ambiguous, although industry participants note that the consumer does not have to be an expert in the labeling and product names, therefore, the consumer needs help to navigate through the range of products, there is another opinion - this legislative initiative will not change anything.

"In the sales area or other place of sale the laying out of dairy and dairy compound products should be carried out separately from milk - containing and other food products produced with the substitution of milk fat with non-milk fat, including vegetable fat", - stated in the text of the draft decree of the government of the Russian Federation.

For all experts the key is the fact that there are no imputed penalties for falsification in Russia. In addition, according to market participants, the overwhelming amount of falsified dairy products is sold in the social sphere (kindergartens, schools, hospitals, etc.), purchases are done at extremely low prices, and the control of the winners of tenders is not always appropriate.

- The law does not work without responsibility, states one of the industry analysts. - The situation must be considered as a whole. In Europe, there are enormous fines for falsification; it can be confirmed by everyone. After all, the problem is not how to call the product, the problem is that the manufacturer deliberately chooses the substitution and does not indicate this anywhere on the label! And the manufacture does not indicate this for a simple reason – there is not any punishment. Initially, it is necessary to solve the problem of falsification, and only then decide what and where will lie on the shelves, - said the analyst.

The same opinion is shared by those who positively evaluate the proposed changes in the rules for the sale of products, however, with the proviso that it is necessary to start something in Russia.

Meanwhile, the issue of increased fines for falsified dairy products in the country has not yet been resolved.

Separation "on the shelf" will not save from falsification and will not protect consumers from dishonest manufacturers. It is impossible to judge the situation on the market by the counters of large retailers, where the shelves are filled with a huge range of dairy products, said Shamsudin Yakubov, General Director of LLC "Nalchikskiy dairy plant".

- If we look at a typical small shop, there are a lot of them in any district of any city in the region, we will see that sellers keep in one refrigerator not only dairy products, but a lot of things. Often you can see in one freezer frozen butter and meat delicacies. Therefore, at the moment it is impossible to say what tasks will be solved by these reforms. Moreover, coming back to the European experience, it is worth noting that on the shelves in Western stores you can find both butter and spread on the same shelf. And they are often similar in design of packaging, which does not violate the rights of the consumer. After all, the packaging clearly says "butter" or "spread" or "spreadable cheese". We believe that first of all our duty is to create a range and offer our customers a choice, while maintaining high quality in any category of products. And the buyer has to decide what items and at what cost he will buy. Our task as manufacturers is to make quality, safe and tasty products in accordance with the declared labeling and to be responsible for it. That is why in our range we present products both natural and spread, but the quality control of ingredients and production for each of the areas is single, - says the Head of LLC "Nalchikskiy dairy plant".

Marina Petrova, General Director of “Petrova Five Consulting” is convinced that the consumer should form the right opinion about what he buys.
- In my opinion, it is a very correct decision - to divide dairy and vegetable-dairy products on the shelf in the store. Today falsification is much spoken about, but it is also very important to prevent misleading consumers. They often do not pay attention to the composition of the product, and with aesthetic packaging, which best attracts the consumer to buy and lower price, the choice of buyers is obvious, - said Marina Petrova in a comment to The DairyNews.

The initiative of the Ministry of industry and trade is positively evaluated by GC "AgroPromkomplektatsiya". Ilya Vasiliev, chief technologist of LLC “Dmitrogorsky dairy plant” (part of GC "AgroPromkomplektatsiya") notes:

- The division of products into dairy and milk-containing products will allow the buyer to make an independent choice in favor of a particular product, eliminating the long and complex study of the components of the product on the label. In this regard, we predict a significant reduction in falsified products on the shelf.

Alexey Udovenko, regional representative of the Malaysian Council of palm oil producers, stresses that "if no punishment is imposed for the violation of the "next" requirements, the result of the "new" initiatives will be the same as of the "old ones" - zero.

- Consumers are blatantly cheated for years! After all, the situation is very simple: there is a violation for which the offender must get an appropriate penalty. The level of punishment should be significantly higher than the likely benefits – that is all. If the penalty for violation of requirements is much lower than benefit, nobody will stick to them, - says Udovenko.

It should be reminded that since July 15, changes in the technical regulations, lobbied by the Ministry of agriculture and concerning both changes in the labeling of products with vegetable fats, and the conceptual apparatus in the name of products with substituted milk fat entered into force. 180 days are provided to enterprises to do the final preparation and start the work in accordance with the new requirements. However, according to market experts, these changes are unlikely to significantly affect the situation with the falsification.

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