What alcohol is most often counterfeited. How to easily distinguish real alcohol from a fake

If you buy vodka

1. Give preference to well-known companies and brands.

2. Do not buy vodka from your hands. Buy alcohol in specialized stores or well-known large hypermarkets.

3. Pay attention to prices.

Today, taking into account the cost of vodka, excise duty, VAT, the manufacturer's profit and all kinds of extra charges, the price of a half-liter bottle of vodka is about 35-40 hryvnia.

4. Pay attention to the sticker of the excise duty stamp. It must be glued in a U-shaped or L-shaped way through the neck of the bottle. When the cork is rotated, this sticker is damaged. If the brand is easily removed or folded back without any problems, without leaving any marks on the bottle, then you most likely have a fake, or the products of an enterprise that does not comply with the technology.

5. The cork should not scroll freely.

6. If you have doubts about the quality of products, ask for a certificate of conformity and a quality certificate.

7. If you buy imported vodka, make sure that the series and numbers of the excise duty stamp, which is pasted on the bottle, match the series and numbers in the certificate of conformity. Moreover, on the glass of such vodka there should be laser marking (numbers and letters applied with small black dots). The marking cannot be erased.

8. Pay attention to the label. It must indicate the date of manufacture of the product, the code of the enterprise and the number of the license for production. Moreover, branded labels are glued evenly. On fakes, these rules are not respected.

9. Turn the bottle over and shake it in a circular motion. A "snake" should appear, which is formed by small bubbles. If, at the same time, the bubbles are large and quickly disappear, it is safe to assume that you have a fake in front of you.

10. Notice if there is a whitish residue on the glass of the bottle. If a precipitate is present, this indicates that the alcohol is diluted with water.

If you buy wine

1. Warnings about the need to check labeling with excise stamps and the availability of documents certifying the quality of alcoholic products are also true for wine.

2. If you buy collectible wines, check for additional labels indicating “Collection, additionally aged”, etc. As a rule, a collar is glued to the neck of the bottle indicating the vintage year of the grapes from which the wine is made.

3. If the wine is controlled by the origin of the names, the bottle will have the inscription "Wine of the controlled by origin names", and the back labels will schematically depict the territory of the region where the wine is made, with the designation of vineyards.

Another very important point: many taste deficiencies that are clearly contained in wine (spoiled, with foreign flavors, etc.) can be masked by adding sugar. As a consequence, the wine will taste sweet or very sweet. Often, this is found in sparkling (champagne) or effervescent (carbonated) wines.

Therefore, if you really want to enjoy a classy unspoiled wine, you should opt for dry or very dry drinks.

4. Pay attention to the quality of the cork. If the cork crumbles when screwing the corkscrew, then most likely it is overdue. This means that the manufacturer does not care about the wine. He does not care about its quality, but only about the amount of money earned.

5. Do not buy wine at a suspiciously low price.

Very often, fruit and berry and indeed any other flavored wines contain special preservatives (additives) of artificial origin, which are harmful.

In order to determine whether artificial colors have been added to wine, you can use one of the simplest methods.

Pour the wine into a small vial, close the mouth with your finger, then lower it into a container of clean water and remove your finger.

Real wine will not dissolve in water. If this happened, then you have a fake.

There is another way. Take ordinary chalk and put a few drops of wine on it. Wait a little. If, after drying, the stain becomes light, then the wine is free of artificial colors. If it turns into any other color, then dyes are present.

If you buy cognac

1. You already know about the check of excise stamps and the availability of quality documents.

2. Pay attention to the density of cognac.

Turn the bottle upside down. If the cognac is expensive and of high quality, a heavy drop should fall from the bottom of the bottle, and traces of runoff will remain on the walls. Fake or low quality cognac will drain down the walls very quickly.

After purchase, the quality of cognac can be checked in several ways.

Pour cognac into a special glass (snifter). Touch your finger to its outer wall and see if your fingerprints remain on it. If yes, it is safe to say that this is a genuine drink.

The taste of vanilla, present in cognac, can often indicate its fake, because. they are often masked by flavorings added to cognac.

Let's, for example, take the most popular cognac in the world - "Hennessy" and see how it is faked.

As you can clearly see from the pictures, most often fakes do not have the Hennesy brand logo (a hand with a halberd), which should be located on the front side of the bottle in its upper part. Also in the counterfeit, a simple "vodka" lid is used, and a wine shell of the lid.

What is noteworthy, Hennesy XO cognac is not produced in a volume of 0.5 liters (only 0.35 and 0.7).

It is even rumored that sales of this type of cognac in the world exceed its production by three to four times. In other words, only every third or fourth bottle of Hennessy is an original. Everything else (about 80 percent) is fake.

If you buy whiskey

1. Good whiskey can't be cheap.

2. Pay attention to the appearance of the bottle. For example, a sign of fake Jameson whiskey is: the absence of an embossed inscription on the bottle, as well as a plastic shell on the cap.

There may also be an incorrectly pasted or poor quality label. Incorrect labels on lids.

3. High-quality whiskey is always transparent (this indicates the purity of water and compliance with production technology) and does not contain sediment.

4. Shake the whiskey well and look for bubbles. They should last a long time and be large.

Unfortunately, very often a fake from the original can be distinguished only after purchasing the product. So, if whiskey reeks of alcohol and does not have a light oak or malt aroma characteristic of it, then you have a fake.

Finally, I want to wish everyone only expensive and high-quality spirits and remind you that excessive alcohol consumption is harmful to your health!

31.08.16 67 344 0

Fake alcohol

How not to spoil the holiday

From January to July 2016, 4.5 thousand people died in Russia due to alcohol poisoning. The reason was not only vodka on technical alcohol, but also whiskey from powder, cognac tinted with sawdust and wine from apple juice with alcohol.

Asya Chelovan

marketer

Finding out the quality of alcohol before you are taken away in an ambulance is quite problematic. To stay healthy, let's figure out how to identify a fake.

Appearance of the bottle

Let's say Oleg Tinkov produces Tinkoffsky cognac. The vineyards and the plant are located in Russia, therefore, as connoisseurs will notice, Tinkoffsky is, strictly speaking, brandy.

In order to make the best brandy in Russia, no worse than that from the province of Cognac, Oleg studied the Charente cognac production technology, purchased French Prullot equipment, brought barrels from seventy-year-old Tronsey oak, built a plant in the Crimea, and grew vineyards with Folle Blanche varieties. ” and “colombard”, and ordered the masters of assemblage from Armenia.

Oleg himself launched production and gave the drink his own last name, because he is responsible for quality. Any fake is a blow to his name, so Oleg tries to protect his product and is attentive to details. This can be seen even in the bottles in which the drink is poured.

Before buying expensive alcohol, open the official website of the manufacturer - there are enough photos that show the shape of the bottle, the features of the labels, and the details of the engravings. It is difficult to fake all the details and labeling of the bottle. Here's what to look out for:

What to look for when buying a bottle

Oleg Tinkov's signature on shrink wrap

Bottle in the shape of the coat of arms "Tinkoff-Bank"

Name embossed label

Excise stamp "Cognac" with the name of the drink, the manufacturer and the volume of containers

Back label with a description of the drink, composition and storage conditions

Embossed brandy name

Unfortunately, even the original bottle does not guarantee the quality of the contents. Ibei sells empty used bottles of famous drinks. A fake drink can be made from concentrate and alcohol:

Excise stamp

An excise stamp is a sign that the manufacturer has paid a tax on alcohol. The state knows that such a bottle exists, and, in theory, is responsible for the quality of its contents. However, last year in Russia sold 15 million deciliters of alcohol with counterfeit brands. Let no taxes be paid for these bottles, the unknown is much worse - what kind of liquid was bottled.

Drinks are classified by strength and composition, excises for each class differ in color. There are four main excise stamps for strong alcohol, nine for wine. FS RAR even issued a brochure describing each brand.

Some of the excise taxes appeared only in 2015, so in the store you will often find cognac with the brand "Strong spirits" than "Cognac". And sake can be both a "wine drink" and "an alcoholic drink over 9 to 25%". All this is confusing.

It is easier to check the brand using the application of the Federal Service "Rosalkogolregulirovanie" - "AntiCounterfeit Alco". It is available for iPhones, smartphones on Android and Windows. The iPhone app is currently not available, but may be available later.

If you fundamentally do not want to install the FS RAR application, check that the stamp has a hologram and a barcode, the color is not solid, and the name matches the content declared on the label. The brand should sit tightly on the bottle, it is made on an adhesive basis. If the brand is a little unstuck - it is better not to take a drink.

Check in the store

Since July 1, 2016, an alcohol sales control system has been operating in Russia - EGAIS, its use is mandatory for all alcohol sellers.

The EGAIS system receives data from manufacturers, importers, wholesalers and retail stores. For violation of the rules, legal entities are fined in the amount of 150,000 to 200,000 rubles.

Sellers who work according to the rules issue a special check with a QR code.

EGAIS check will not be issued:

• if you buy beer;
• if you ordered alcohol in a cafe or restaurant;
• if you buy alcohol in a village of up to 3,000 people: these checks will only be issued there from July 2017.

In the cities of Crimea, the Unified State Automated Information System will work only from 2017, and in small settlements on the peninsula - from 2018.

In other cases - if you are not in the Crimea, not in the village and buy alcohol stronger than beer - the seller is obliged to issue a check. Such a check is a guarantee that legal alcohol is being sold to you.

Before buying alcohol, ask the seller if they work in EGAIS. If they don't work, leave. If alcohol is sold in a store without EGAIS, most likely, the supplier did not enter it into the system either. It is unlikely that anyone will answer for the quality of "invisible" alcohol.

If the store works according to the rules, the seller first scans the barcode, then the excise stamp, and then issues a special receipt with a QR code.

Ordinary check

Ordinary check

EGAIS check

"Signature" of the cash register on which the check is punched

To read a QR code, you need to install a program on your smartphone - the aforementioned Anti-Counterfeit Alco FS RAR or a regular scanner. I use the Kaspersky application, but the tool is not important here. If you do not want to install anything or the QR is not readable - this also happens - type the link from the check directly in the browser line.

The link will open the website of the Federal Tax Service: pay attention to the date and time of the sale - it should not differ from the real one. The information in the block "Series and numbers of stamps" must match the inscription on the label and the data on the excise stamp.

Check date and time of purchase

The same text should be on the stamp

If you were given a check with correct information, the alcohol is real. The store would not be able to accept and sell alcohol that is not on the public register.

When to check

You need to check the bottle for an excise stamp before you take it to the checkout.

Alcohol, like other food products, cannot be replaced or returned. Therefore, if you gave money, the seller may refuse to accept the drink back and return the money.

In this case, you can try to withdraw from the transaction: failure to issue a check or incorrect information on it can be considered a violation of the consumer's right to receive information.

If you can’t cancel the purchase, just warn the seller about what you will do next. And you need to act like this:

1. Write an application to the FS RAR and Rospotrebnadzor.
2. If the FS RAP application is installed, report a violation through it.
3. If there is no application, then report what happened to the FS RAR portal. In the application, write that you were sold alcohol without a EGAIS check, indicate the date, address of the store, attach a photo of the bottle and check if you were given a regular one.

And, of course, do not drink if there is even the slightest doubt about the authenticity of the drink.

The smell of the drink

If you do not have the sense of smell and the experience of a sommelier, then you are unlikely to be able to distinguish by smell - French is cognac or something spilled at a small factory in the suburbs.

If you are still lucky enough to have a keen sense of smell, then let the drink stand in a glass for a few minutes. The aroma has disappeared, but the smell of alcohol remains - in front of you is a fake, do not risk it.

In the production of counterfeit alcohol, methyl alcohol is often used instead of ethyl alcohol, which does not differ in smell and taste. Methyl alcohol is technical alcohol, which, when it enters the human body, decomposes to dangerous substances - formaldehyde and formic acid. 30 ml of methyl alcohol will kill a healthy adult male.

Symptoms of methyl alcohol poisoning: nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, blurred vision, pain throughout the body. If you feel that this is happening to you - call an ambulance before it's too late. Doctors will wash the stomach and pour in ethyl alcohol.

Remember

1. Pay attention to the price. Elite alcohol for 500 rubles is a fake.
2. If you are going to buy expensive alcohol, look at the manufacturer's website to see what the bottle looks like.
3. If you know that you will buy alcohol in an unfamiliar place, download the Anti-Counterfeiting Alco application in advance - iPhone (now unavailable), Android and Windows. You will check both the excise stamp and the check with them.
4. Check excise stamps: they must be tightly pasted, have a hologram, lot number, and the color must match the content.
5. Ask if the store works on EGAIS. Doesn't work - don't buy.
6. If you were not given a EGAIS check with a QR code, warn the seller that you will complain to Rospotrebnadzor and FS RAR.
7. If you were given a check with a QR code, be sure to check it. If the code is not readable, try entering the link below it.
8. Always check if the data on the link matches what is indicated on the paper check: the TIN of the store, the date and time of sale, the position in the check.

Consultants: prof. Georgy Alexandrovich Livanov, prof. Alexander Nikolaevich Petrov, lawyer Vladimir Belyaev

Many people would like to know the taste of real cognac, tequila, whiskey and other elite, which costs a considerable amount of money. But at present, this "weakness" is used by numerous scammers who offer buyers, passing it off as noble and elite. Often you can get a fake before the holidays, at a time when the demand of buyers for these products increases significantly. Even if it is a high-quality fake that will not bring any harm to health, however, its taste will still be very different from a natural product.

It is worth knowing that most often scammers counterfeit branded alcohol brands in order to earn as much money as possible at a lower cost. And the buyer of such products will experience not only real disappointment after opening the bottle, but a severe hangover in the morning, poisoning or an allergic reaction.

Most often, it is possible to distinguish burnt alcohol from the real one only after the bottle is opened and its contents are tasted. In this case, it will be especially unpleasant if elite alcohol was presented as a present for the holiday.

Unfortunately, when buying alcoholic beverages, it is impossible to check the quality and taste of the drink, to evaluate its smell, so you have to trust the sellers' information. But before buying expensive alcoholic drinks, you should know that there are a large number of signs by which you can quickly and easily distinguish a fake even at the time of purchase and save your money and health.

When buying any alcohol, be sure to pay attention to the excise stamp, cost and label of the bottle, which will make it easy to recognize counterfeit:

• The label on the original is always glued evenly and neatly, while on counterfeit alcohol it is almost always crooked or oblique. The label of most expensive alcoholic products feels like a banknote to the touch. In addition, on it you can find all the information about the drink, and not a certain part of it.
• The excise stamp is glued to expensive alcohol at the same time along the side face of the cork and neck, because when you open the bottle, it should not be damaged.
• The cost of elite, and most importantly, natural alcohol is always high, so it is not recommended to pay attention to cheap goods, because the original taste of such a drink is not inherent.

There are some features of elite alcoholic beverages that you need to pay attention to.

Unfortunately, such an alcoholic product as vodka is most often counterfeited. In addition, a fake is often harmful to health, since it contains a large amount of poisonous oils.

We choose correctly:

Since there are not so many elite brands of wine, it is much less often counterfeited.

The following tips will help you distinguish real alcohol from a fake:

There are several ways to find out if there are artificial colors in a drink:

1. You need to pour wine into a small vial, cover the neck with your finger, and then lower the vial into a bowl with a small amount of clean water. After that, you need to take your finger and watch the reaction, if the wine dissolves - this is a fake.
2. You can try to put a few drops of wine on white chalk and wait a bit. If it changes color, it means that the drink contains dyes and other harmful additives; if the color remains the same, then there are no artificial additives in the wine.

When buying cognac, follow the following:

• When choosing cognac, it is important first of all to pay attention to the density of the drink and correctly distinguish it. You can do this simply by turning the bottle upside down and determining the density of the liquid - if immediately after the flip a large drop fell from the bottom, then the cognac is of high quality, and the drink is aged for at least 5 years.
• In a bottle filled to the top, it is easy to determine the density of cognac by the bubbles that form immediately after the bottle is turned over. If at first the bubbles are large, and then they begin to separate into small ones, then this drink is natural and of high quality.
• The original cognac is distinguished by a soft and delicate taste, as well as a light pleasant aroma. But the smell of alcohol when opening the bottle indicates poor quality. The taste of vanilla, which is often drowned out by flavors added to the drink, can also tell about a fake.
• Checking product quality documents and excise stamps will also help you find out if it is real cognac or not.

Whiskey lovers need to know the following:

• The transparency of the drink notifies the buyer about the quality of the water from which the whiskey is made, and compliance with all technologies for the production of the product. Whiskey may have some shades, but it should not be thick, cloudy or have sediment or coating.
• Bubbles in a natural drink, when shaken, stay in the bottle for a long time and do not become small. In addition, they run down the walls of the bottle for quite a long time, while fake products instantly flow over the glass base.
• The original and high-quality drink has a malt or oak aroma, while there is no smell of alcohol in the drink.

Cognac "Hennessy"

According to statistics, worldwide sales of this brandy significantly exceed the production of this alcoholic product. Therefore, at least 80% of the products are fake, while only 1 bottle out of 4 can be called natural. Such a drink is sold in bottles with a capacity of 0.35 and 0.7 liters. Otherwise, the product is considered counterfeit. If the cork does not tightly close the bottle, this indicates that the cognac is not factory-made. On the front side of the natural product, the manufacturer's corporate logo should be located - a hand with a halberd, which is not on the fake.

Whiskey Jameson

• On a natural bottle of this whiskey, there is a metal cork that is not coated.
• Also on the original there are two similar relief inscriptions at once. The first, "Product of Ireland", is located at the bottom under the label, while the second, "John Jameson", is located at the bottom of the back of the bottle.

Tequila "Olmeca"

• The cap on a bottle of real tequila is smooth.
• The entire bottle of the original Olmeca tequila is characterized by an uneven relief and if you run your hand over its surface, you can feel the roughness.
• Among the pattern on the label, you can see two circles located between the bends, while on the fake, instead of circles, an oval is drawn.

As you can see, distinguishing a fake from real alcohol is quite simple, especially if you know some of the nuances and secrets of choosing alcohol.

No dubious shops and provincial stalls. Buy alcohol in retail chains that monitor reputation and carefully select suppliers. Roughly speaking, if there is an expired product on the shelves in a supermarket, then alcohol there must be chosen with particular captiousness.

Always when buying alcohol, you should be given a check, and ideally, ask for a passport, even if you don’t look like a schoolboy for a long time.

Price

Very good stuff and not cheap. If you are offered aged French cognac for 800 rubles, then something is wrong. If you want to buy an expensive one, first look at how much it costs, compare prices on the Internet, do not run after a good price.

It is not interesting to fake very cheap alcohol of unpromoted brands; rather, it will initially be of poor quality. So take good drinks after checking the authenticity.

Bottle

Branded alcohol is poured into special bottles with an unusual shape, edges on the neck, embossed inscriptions. If you want to buy alcohol of a particular well-known brand, try to find the manufacturer's website and evaluate how the bottle differs from any other.

Pay attention to:

• Cover material. Made of plastic, metal or cork, with or without a lid, plain or embossed, flat or domed. The lid of good alcohol does not scroll, does not flow. On the caps of vodka bottles there is a number by which the bottle can be checked for authenticity on the manufacturer's website.
• Neck shape. Long or short, with or without edges. A bottle with a dispenser is a sign that it was made at the factory, and not underground.
• Bottle shape. Pay attention to the curves, the shoulders of the bottle, the topography of the bottom.
• Relief inscriptions and images. On expensive alcohol, there are often inscriptions with the name of the drink, symbols of the trading house, and other designations. On fakes, these inscriptions are either not repeated at all, or not all are reproduced, or the place of application is confused.

Excise stamp

The excise stamp is printed on special paper with colored fibers, all numbers and codes on it are clear, clearly visible and readable. The stamp must be glued absolutely evenly.

Excise stamps must be checked by organizations that have a license to sell alcohol. For you and me, there is a service of the Unified Social Portal of the Alcohol Market.

Enter the numbers from the excise stamp and check if the brand of the product matches. The service works in test mode, that is, apparently, its data does not always correspond to reality. However, we tested five bottles produced and purchased from different places, and they all passed the test.

Label

The label of quality alcohol is made on good paper, often with embossing or complex elements.

If you are looking for a specific brand, compare the order in which the information on the label should appear. On branded products, all labels repeat the pattern, and product names are accompanied by a registered trademark icon.

It is obligatory to indicate the address of the manufacturer (legal and place of production), composition, there must be links to regulatory documents.

Bottle content

It can help if you buy alcohol in a clear glass bottle and know what the desired drink looks like.

• Cognac, if you turn the bottle upside down, leaves oily streaks on the glass. They are called cognac legs.
• The same goes for good whisky. It must be remembered that whiskey is a transparent drink, sediment and flakes should not be there.
• Vodka - only transparent, without sediment.

But by the appearance of the drink, one can only distinguish a completely artisanal fake.

Here we are only talking about fakes, but there is also just low-quality alcohol, for example, wine made from a mixture of alcohol with dyes and flavors. Only reading the label with the composition will help here, indicating the GOSTs according to which the alcohol is made. And your feelings. If you open a bottle and you think that something is wrong, do not finish drinking and do not check. Better to lose money than health.

The most effective way to protect against bad alcohol

They know how to fake everything, up to excise stamps. Therefore, the most effective way to protect against bad alcohol is to choose the place of purchase and alcohol, which you can check on the manufacturer's website.

How to recognize methyl alcohol

No way. Although there are recipes for the determination of methanol.

Dipping heated copper wire into alcohol, for example. Methanol, when reacting with copper, will release formaldehyde, you will feel a pungent odor. Ethanol doesn't behave like that. But ethanol will also smell, albeit not so vile. There is another option with igniting alcohol and revealing the shade of the flame (methanol burns greenish).

These methods work if you are comparing two pure types of alcohol. And methanol can be added to alcohol in different proportions, diluted and mixed with dyes, flavors and ethanol.

Symptoms of methyl alcohol poisoning

At first, methanol poisoning does not differ from alcohol poisoning: dizziness, nausea, headache. Then there are warning signs:

• Pain all over the body.
• Loss of vision.
• Dyspnea.
• Cardiopalmus.

What to do to avoid poisoning with methanol

1. Drink only alcohol from trusted places and only high quality.
2. Never get drunk enough to miss the first signs of poisoning, that is, until you lose the ground under your feet and feel sick.
3. With symptoms of poisoning, urgently call an ambulance and get to the doctors.
4. Before the arrival of doctors, provide first aid when.

While regular ethanol helps slow down alcohol poisoning, don't self-medicate with alcohol.

Interest in the problem "How to distinguish fake alcohol from the real one?" understandable. A surrogate can not only harm the human body, but also lead to death. Unfortunately, due to the popularity and high cost of good strong drinks, they are often faked. Fraudsters sell elite alcohol at a lower price, attracting consumers. You can distinguish it from the real one if you know what to look for. This is what we are going to study now.

original bottle or not

Following the law of the Russian Federation, alcoholic beverages are allowed to be sold to organizations that have received a license. Individual entrepreneurs have the right to sell low-alcohol products such as mead, beer, cider.

The sale of alcohol via the Internet or by hand is not controlled. In this case, no one is immune from buying a surrogate.

How to recognize a fake by looking at the bottle:

1. We look at the correctness of the sticker of the excise stamp. If not, then you should not risk buying such a product. The excise stamp is located on top of the cork, and its ends are glued along the neck.
2. Before purchasing expensive alcohol, you should study the label of a real product on the Internet. It should contain all the information about the manufacturer and products. The fact that the label cannot be glued crookedly and with adhesive smudges is not even worth talking about.
3. It is necessary to take into account the cost of elite products. If it is low, there is a suspicion that it is a fake. Perhaps you won’t get poisoned with such a drink, but you won’t get the original taste either.

Some manufacturers of elite products give the bottle an original shape, color scheme, decor. Knowing how the product looks, it is easier to distinguish high-quality alcohol.

Recognizing counterfeit alcohol

Not always people follow the advice and buy alcohol-containing products in online stores. Well, everything is possible, and even the purchase of elite cognac through the World Wide Web. You can check whether it is safe or not after uncorking the bottle.

What you need to do for this at home:

1. The original product must be free of sediment and other impurities. The exception is cream of tartar in aged products.
2. You can test vodka with raw potatoes. In the present product, it will remain unchanged. If there is industrial alcohol in the bottle, the potatoes will turn pink.
3. A real strong drink burns with a blue flame when set on fire. If the fire turns green, methanol has been added to the drink.
4. To find out the quality of alcohol, you need to heat the copper wire to redness and dip it into the drink. A strong smell of formaldehyde will indicate the presence of methanol.
5. Using litmus paper, learn about the presence of sulfuric acid in the product. If, after dipping into the drink, she turned blue, it is dangerous to drink it.

Such experiments are not required if you purchase products at a specialized outlet. In this case, be sure to require a sales receipt.

How to identify real alcohol

Manufacturers of luxury products are trying to protect their consumers. For this purpose, various methods of protection are being developed. By external signs, some popular products can be distinguished.

Vodka

Refers to the most counterfeited product. Quite often there are cases of poisoning with vodka. Signs of the original, which are worth paying attention to:

• we give preference to well-known brands;
• the cork of the original "sits" tightly on the bottle and does not scroll;
• the price of a half-liter bottle of this product should not be less than 300 rubles;
• when opening the bottle, the excise stamp retains its integrity, and after its removal, traces of glue remain;
• original label contains information about the manufacturer, license number, date of manufacture;
• imported products are supplied with laser dot marking on glass, which cannot be erased; a fake does not have it.

In a real drink, after shaking in a circular motion, you can notice a whirlwind of small bubbles. If their size is larger than expected, and they quickly disappear, this indicates a fake.

Wine

A substitute for wine products is much less common. Therefore, it is easier to distinguish a fake from a real drink. What we pay attention to:

• on the original bottle there is a special marking or a hologram;
• on the "shoulders" of containers of elite products, a collar is glued, on which additional information about the quality of the drink is located;
• information on the label is printed in advance, and the date of manufacture is stamped on the bottle during the capping process;
• some manufacturers of expensive wines decorate bottles with additional identification marks that you need to know when choosing a particular product;
• when shaking the wine, a small sediment may appear, which quickly sinks to the bottom after shaking;
• in a fake, the cork has an unpleasant odor and crumbles a lot, but this is only discovered after buying a drink.

To check a quality product or not, after purchase, you can “test” the wine with glycerin. To do this, 1 part of the substance is added to 5 parts of the drink. A change in the color of glycerin indicates a fake, as well as staining of chalk after a drop of wine.

Even the cheapest cognac costs at least $10-15. The older the drink, the more expensive it is. You can distinguish this product by the following features:

• the label of an elite drink is often made of special paper, reminiscent of the one on which money is printed;
• the film covering the cork must be made using special technology and have a dense structure;
• products of some brands are distinguished by their original design, for example, Hennessy with the emblem of a hand with a halberd;
• sufficient light transmission and the absence of impurities are signs of a natural product;
• to make sure of the required density of the product, you need to turn the bottle over, after which an oily drop should fall from its bottom.

Freshly opened cognac smells like oak bark. "Scorched" drink has the smell of kerosene, acetone or alcohol. Unfortunately, this can only be understood after uncorking the bottle.

Whiskey

The growing popularity of real whiskey leads to the spread of its fakes. In addition to the general signs of counterfeiting, you should pay attention to the following nuances:

• original whiskey has a light yellow-brown color;
• subject to the manufacturing technology, the drink remains transparent, without impurities;
• after shaking the whiskey, large bubbles form, and droplets slowly flow down the walls of the bottle.

Signs of natural products that are found after uncorking the product - malt or oak aroma. There should be no smell of alcohol.

Signs of alcohol poisoning

People who do not follow the warnings risk being poisoned by the surrogate. This is very dangerous and often fatal. Often the symptoms of intoxication are very similar to the signs of a hangover. In this case, the person suffers from weakness, dizziness, nausea.

In case of poisoning, after a certain time, the following symptoms are added:

• painful discomfort throughout the body;
• deterioration in breathing and slowing of the heartbeat;
• decreased visual function, dancing spots before the eyes, blurry pictures;
• weakening of the reaction to external stimuli or the complete absence of resistance, characteristic of a coma.

At the first suspicion of intoxication, you should immediately contact the rescue service. In this case, every minute is precious. While waiting for an ambulance, you should try to follow the instructions of the dispatcher.

What is the state doing to combat counterfeiting?

In order to ensure proper control over domestically produced and imported products, an automated EGAIS system was created in 2005. While it has significant flaws that are corrected in the course of use. But since 2016, wholesale and small wholesale buyers will not be able to legally trade in alcohol without registering in the system.

The consumer needs to buy alcoholic beverages only at specialized points of sale and require a certificate. Thanks to this, it is easy to protect yourself from buying a dangerous surrogate.