Dairy products manufacturers began to replace fat with palm oil more frequently

What products are they falsifying? According to Rosselkhoznadzor, the proportion of the falsifier really increased, but not much from 14.66% in 2023 to 14.88% in 2024. Above all, the indicator increased in butter, from 19.7% to 24.8%, the department representative said the buyer. Often, violations are often found in cheeses and cottage cheese. By Falsifier, the department refers to any discrepancy between the real composition declared on the label or the technical regulations.

• Most of the time, manufacturers change the raw materials of milk to palm oil and do not indicate this in the package, explained the general director of Molvest Anatoly Losv. He stressed that vegetable fat is 10 times cheaper than milk, this largely reduces the cost of products. According to thev, this problem seemed solved, but the products with vegetable fat began to fall on the shelves again.
• In addition, another problem appeared that manufacturers began to dilute drinking milk, so fat content and protein content are reduced. Thev said that this often applies to products under their own brands.

What is the reason? Belov associated the situation with an increase in the cost of production: now unscrupulous manufacturers use cheap fat substitutes to offer finished products at a lower price. The general director of Soyuzolok sees the greatest risks in the state acquisition segment, in which, according to the law, the price is a key factor when choosing a supplier.

According to Shopper, the demand for dairy products last year did not have time to increase raw milk production. According to Rostat, during the year, dairy prices increased by 16%and to butter, by 36.2%. The Russian authorities opened tax -free imports, which allowed to import oil from India, Iran and other countries. In mid -February 2025, the Government said that butter prices stabilized.