Another Scandal! Fake Cheeses With Palm Oil Have Flooded The Market

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

During an action of Active Consumers it was established that 9 of the cheese brands on the Bulgarian markets used palm oil or powdered milk. Another 27 brands have discovered a new scam - the addition of the enzyme transbutaminase.

The news was announced by the chairman of the Active Consumers Association, Bogomil Nikolov, who stated that he would provide the test results to the Consumer Protection Commission.

A total of 36 cheese brands were tested by the association. Non-dairy fats were found in 6 of them - cheese with supplier Ipex Group, cheese with supplier Sibila, producer Sirma Prista, distributor Lucky 2003 Ltd., SVA - COME Ltd. and an unidentified producer and supplier of cheese at the Women's Market in Sofia.

High water content in the cheese was found in Milki Group Bio EAD.

For 9 of the brands it was found that instead of cow's milk, as it is written on the label, palm cheese and powdered milk are added to the cheese, which are not dangerous for consumption, but mislead consumers.

These brands also have a higher water content at the expense of fat content.

27 of the cheese brands are suspected of using a new type of fraud, said Dr. Sergei Ivanov, director of the Center for Food Biology.

It is suspected that they add the enzyme to their products transbutaminasewhich damages the proteins in the product and thus hardens it. The goal is to create a product just like cheese with less milk.

So far, however, it is not possible to say with certainty whether this method has been applied, because we do not have a laboratory to detect the suspected enzyme.

The use of transbutaminase is allowed, but not for making cheese, because it can adversely affect the health of people who consume it.