The study found that instead of containing real dairy ingredients, many products included non-dairy fats, starch, soda, food additives, and microbial transglutaminase, a binding agent banned in some contexts and often referred to as “meat glue.”
Authorities in Russia have reported a sharp rise in counterfeit butter and other dairy products following a year of steep price increases.
According to an investigation by the food safety agency Rosselkhoznadzor, nearly 25 percent of all butter packages sold in Russia last year were fake.
Rosselkhoznadzor’s nationwide inspection showed widespread food fraud in other dairy products as well. Some 16 percent of cheeses, 14 percent of cottage cheese, 13 percent of powdered milk, and 11 percent of sour cream tested were also found to be counterfeit.
The fake products were purchased across Russia’s largest retail chains, including Diksi, Magnit, O’KEY, Verny, and Svetofor. Producers were located in at least ten regions, including Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Saratov, and Kursk. In one case, authorities discovered that a company listed as a manufacturer in Tula Region did not physically exist at the registered address.
The results follow a year in which butter prices in Russia reportedly surged by 55 percent, prompting cases of theft and driving demand for cheaper alternatives. The Moscow Times noted that the use of fake dairy ingredients is not new in Russia. In 2015, Rosselkhoznadzor reported that a quarter of all dairy products sold in the country failed to meet basic authenticity standards. That spike followed Russia’s ban on Western food imports after its annexation of Crimea in 2014, which disrupted supplies and created incentives for substitution.
Consumer groups say food fraud is driven by price pressure from both shoppers and retailers. According to the National Union for Consumer Protection, shops often demand low wholesale prices, pushing producers to cut costs using cheaper, lower-quality ingredients such as vegetable fats and palm oil.
Despite government systems designed to trace and label food products, enforcement remains weak. The Public Consumer Initiative’s chairman, Oleg Pavlov, told Izvestia that the absence of supporting legal measures from the Ministry of Economic Development prevents the blocking of fake goods at store checkouts or during state procurement.
Only one company, TMK Tverca in Tver Region, has so far faced criminal charges. Authorities fined 15 other producers, issued formal warnings to 45, and withdrew quality certification from eight firms.
Duma member Sergei Lisovsky has proposed changing the law to grant Rospotrebnadzor, the national consumer protection agency, the authority to stop non-compliant food products from being sold without requiring a court decision. Under current regulations, sales can only be blocked by legal order.
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