Check alcohol by excise tax. How to check alcoholic drinks for authenticity

No dubious shops or run-of-the-mill stalls. Buy alcohol from retail chains that monitor their reputation and carefully select suppliers. Roughly speaking, if there is expired goods on the shelves in a supermarket, then the alcohol there must be chosen with particular pickiness.

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

Price

A very good thing is not cheap. If you are offered aged French cognac for 800 rubles, there is something 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 counterfeit very cheap alcohol from unpromoted brands; it is more likely to be of poor quality from the very beginning. So grab some good drinks after checking the authenticity.

Bottle

Branded alcohol is bottled in special bottles with an unusual shape, edges on the neck, and raised inscriptions. If you want to buy alcohol from a specific 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, whether the lid is wrapped or not, smooth or embossed, flat or convex. The lid of good alcohol does not rotate or leak. On the caps of vodka bottles there is a number by which the bottle can be verified 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 in a factory and not underground.
• Bottle shape. Pay attention to the curves, shoulders of the bottle, and bottom topography.
• 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 applied absolutely evenly.

Organizations that have a license to sell alcohol must check excise stamps. For you and me there is the service of the Unified Social Portal of the Alcohol Market.

Enter the numbers from the excise stamp and check whether the stamp matches the product. The service operates 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 mandatory to indicate the address of the manufacturer (legal and place of production), composition, and there must be links to regulatory documents.

Bottle contents

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

• Cognac, if you turn the bottle upside down, leaves oily streaks on the glass. They are called cognac legs.
• Good whiskey behaves in the same way. We must remember that whiskey is a clear drink, there should be no sediment or flakes.
• Vodka - only clear, 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 simply low-quality alcohol, for example, wine made from a mixture of alcohol with dyes and flavorings. The only thing that will help here is to read the label with the composition and indicate the GOST standards according to which the alcohol is made. And your feelings. If you open a bottle and something doesn't seem right, don't finish it or check. It's better to lose money than health.

The most effective way to protect yourself from bad alcohol

They can counterfeit everything, even excise stamps. Therefore, the most effective way to protect yourself from 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 determining methanol.

Dipping heated copper wire into alcohol, for example. When methanol reacts with copper, it will release formaldehyde and you will notice a pungent odor. Ethanol doesn't behave that way. But ethanol will also smell, although not as disgusting. There is another option with setting the alcohol on fire 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 is no different from alcohol poisoning: dizziness, nausea, headache. Then warning signs appear:

• Pain throughout the body.
• Loss of vision.
• Dyspnea.
• Cardiopalmus.

What to do to avoid methanol poisoning

1. Drink only alcohol from trusted places and only high-quality alcohol.
2. Never get so drunk that you miss the first signs of poisoning, that is, until you lose your footing and feel sick.
3. If you have symptoms of poisoning, immediately call an ambulance and get to the doctors.
4. Before the doctors arrive, provide first aid.

Although regular ethanol helps inhibit industrial alcohol poisoning, do not self-medicate with alcohol.

An excise stamp on alcoholic products is a confirmation of its quality. The presence of an excise tax on alcohol products should be given close attention - after all, a low-quality alcohol product often becomes the cause of serious poisoning and the use of alcoholic beverages produced “underground” can even lead to death.

It is important not only to make sure that there is an excise tax stamp on the product, but also to keep in mind that unscrupulous businessmen can also falsify excise taxes. Therefore, it will be useful to know how to identify counterfeit alcohol by the excise stamp.

Also find out how to spot counterfeits of popular alcoholic beverages: , | | | |

The meaning of excise tax and useful information about it

An excise stamp or parcel post is a kind of quality mark for alcoholic products (and other types of goods), meaning that the product has been certified, manufactured in accordance with the requirements of state standards and its quality characteristics are at the highest level.

To avoid counterfeiting, excise stickers are printed using various innovative technologies: parcels are made on special paper and have different security systems.


Usually, when producing a low-quality alcohol product, underground bootleggers do not even try to forge all the protective excise marks, because this requires significant financial costs.

Maximum - the simplest protective levels are copied and therefore counterfeit alcohol can be easily distinguished from quality products if desired: you just have to look closely at the pasted parcel. How to distinguish a fake excise tax stamp for alcohol - read the detailed instructions in the next section of the article.

How to spot fake alcohol video.

How to spot a fake alcohol tax stamp

Such an important quality indicator as the excise stamp for alcohol can be checked for authenticity right in the store. Special equipment - a special type of scanner that recognizes the authenticity of a parcel is available in any large hypermarket, shopping center or specialized boutique of alcoholic beverages.

To carry out a check, contact an employee of the administration of the retail outlet and ask for a quality test. If the scanner shows that the brand on the product has inconsistencies, you should definitely refrain from purchasing such a product. But you need to know that special scanners do not always cope with their task of determining the authenticity of the excise tax.



If the technology did not reveal any violations in the protection of the parcel, but did not dispel your doubts about the poor quality of the product, you have the right to apply to the Forensic Expertise Center to verify the authenticity of the mark.

The center’s specialists will conduct an expert study and, based on it, will issue you a conclusion, which will indicate the quality of the product and the presence (absence) of violations in the protection of the excise parcel.

Attention! The examination at the initiative of the consumer is paid for by the consumer, but subsequently the costs of the research may be compensated to you by persons guilty of selling a obviously low-quality product.


But is it possible to check such a quality mark as an excise stamp for alcohol independently, without the use of technology and the involvement of experts? There are ways to independently check the excise parcel on alcohol products - let's talk about them in detail.

There is microtext at the top of the stamp. The word “brand” is written in the negative, and “FSM” is written in the positive.

The hologram is a complex pattern, in the center of which the inscription “RF” is located in rhombuses.

Check alcohol by excise stamp online

It is much easier to take advantage of the achievements of modern information technology and check alcohol using the excise stamp online. The Rosalkogolregulirovaniya service has created a special online service called “Brand Check”.

On this resource you can check the existence of a particular excise tax and find out whether you purchased a quality product or not. There are other resources where a similar service is available.

Check the excise stamp for alcohol by number on the website service.fsrar.ru

A quick online excise tax check will allow you to find out whether you have purchased a quality product, and thereby avoid the tragedies and troubles that come with consuming an illegal alcohol product.

Hello, dear readers! Today I propose to talk about what counterfeiting is, how to deal with it, and how alcohol is checked using the excise stamp.

Did you think that surrogate drinks are protected so reliably that it would be impossible to calculate them with some knowledge? That excise tax can be bought at any Soyuzpechat stall and not be held liable? We will try to figure out how excise tax can serve as a guarantee of quality, and how the process of obtaining certification is monitored.

It is believed that the excise stamp was invented by the state solely for the purpose of obtaining tax on the sale of alcohol, so that the tax office could regulate the alcohol market and influence the price. This is partly true, but a simple distinctive sign can also protect the health of the consumer and warn him against purchasing low-quality products. To know everything about excise duty, I will try to describe the main verification methods and nuances that will show that this is a fake.

How to spot a fake yourself

1. Mindfulness

Remember the children's game "Find the Differences". When you pick up a bottle of alcoholic drink in a supermarket, it’s time to remember your powers of observation and see if all the degrees of protection are on the sticker that holds the container and lid together.

Counterfeiting any means of protection is a costly business, which is why excise forms often pay attention to the simplest aspects, while complex levels are ignored. 4 nuances that are worth paying attention to:

• Inkjet stamp number;
• Barcode;
• Foil holographic image;
• Information about the manufacturing plant, security level, release date.

2. Scan

If you buy alcohol not at a kiosk but at a market that respects its reputation, there must be a special scanner there. He may be waiting for you at the reception desk. It is enough to scan the excise stamp for the electronics to check all levels of compliance. Although, according to experts, even with such a check you will not be given 100% guarantees.

3. Measure seven times

Each excise sticker has its own size. For alcoholic beverages it is installed in two versions: 90×26 and 62×21. If the dimensions do not correspond to those specified, or have uneven or wrinkled edges, you should be wary.

Another nuance is that on a large stamp the upper part is separated from the larger lower golden thread. It does not erase, does not smear, and can be pulled out of the paper if necessary.

4. Little tricks

Surrogate alcohol should be low in cost, so spending money on counterfeit protection is not in the interests of bootleggers. In order to make it easier for consumers to expose counterfeit goods, small fragments, invisible at first glance, were invented on protective parcels (stamps).

Knowing about them, identifying the original will not be difficult. Such invisible signs of originality include:

• At the top of the text, the word “brand” is written in a negative stripe, and “FMS” in a positive one;
• The hologram diamonds contain a pattern with the “RF” logo woven into it in the central part;
• The strip with the inscription “Federal special stamp” gradually changing colors, goes from a negative print to a positive one;
• The excise paper itself is made in the form of self-adhesive and does not have luminescence;
• Fibers are scattered over the entire surface; they may be non-luminescent red or luminescent yellow-red.

Video instruction

Video instructions on how to distinguish a fake excise stamp from a real one

Checking via the Internet

There are several ways to check the protection of a liquor online.

Last chance

There is another 100% verification option, but it is more likely to be used by relatives or police authorities in the event of death or alcohol poisoning. This is a forensic examination conducted by the Forensic Science Center.

Here the liquid will be broken down into its components and molecules and it will be determined whether it corresponds to the lofty name of the ethyl-containing potion or is a fake. They will also study excise duty here. They will probably even determine what equipment it was printed on. Only these measures will be a reaction to the event that we are planning to prevent.

Conclusion

Knowledge about the levels of protection of alcoholic beverages and how to verify their originality, of course, gives you additional guarantees when purchasing, but does not at all protect you from skillful, expensive counterfeiting. After all, the stereotype that a surrogate is made only in the form of burnt vodka has long outlived itself and in our realities, elite, expensive alcohol is of greater interest.

Now you are armed with the necessary knowledge and there is less chance of running into a fake. But I still highly recommend reading the article about methyl alcohol poisoning. This is a very terrible poison, the intake of which in most cases leads to blindness and even to of death. In case of methyl poisoning, the clock is ticking and it is extremely important to have the necessary information to take the necessary measures.

This is where I end. I would like to advise you to buy alcohol only in specialized stores and still pay attention to the excise tax, because it is printed for us! Subscribe to my blog updates, share interesting facts on social networks, and receive fresh and reliable information first-hand!

Until we meet again, Pavel Dorofeev.

vinodela.ru

Barcode on the label

The barcode carries a lot of information, in particular:

• About the country of origin;
• About the name of the product, its category;
• About the expiration date;
• About the authenticity of the digital code;

It seems that there is nothing difficult about faking a label, but the combination of numbers at the end of a 13-digit barcode allows you to identify an error. The verification system is so simple, so fake barcodes are stamped without taking into account the payment system, which is why they are caught during verification. And attempts to take into account the peculiarities of verification do not produce tangible results.

Barcodes can be of 2 types: 13- and 12-digit, depending on the country using this system. For example, in the European system the code consists of 13 digits, and in Canada and the USA it consists of 12 characters.

The International Product Accounting System has developed an individual code for each country for ease of reading the information.

You can check the barcode by downloading an application for your phone's operating system. You can use the service and check alcoholic and other alcoholic products online.

Code review

How to check the authenticity of the code:

• Manually
• Automatically

To manually check, you need to add up the numbers in even positions and multiply the resulting number by 3, add this indicator with the sum of odd numbers, except for the last one, which is the control. For the resulting number, you must use the units exponent, subtracting this figure from 10. The resulting value must match the last digit of the barcode.

To automatically check, you only need to enter the barcode correctly, click in the “Check” field and evaluate the result. If the code is genuine, then it is highlighted with a green background; if it is fake, then the corresponding inscription appears.

There are several reasons why the numbers corresponding to the country of origin do not show the name they should, this could be due to several reasons:

• The main plant has representatives and subsidiaries in other countries, although the brand will be retained.
• If you have a license, the product can be manufactured in another country on behalf of a foreign manufacturer;
• The company was registered in another country. In this case, all products will be labeled at the registration address.
• If the company consists of several foreign founders, then the country code can be any of all the founding countries.

Knowing these subtleties, you can avoid purchasing counterfeit and low-quality products.

alcoholism.com

Indicators of excellent alcohol

Any alcoholic drink has its own indicators and quality characteristics. Alcohol products differ in the following nuances:

• aroma;
• fortress;
• color spectrum;
• flavors;
• power of influence on the body.

They check the quality and authenticity of alcoholic products in specialized laboratories. You can order this check yourself by paying for the service. But you can determine your alcohol level yourself. There are many effective ways to do this.

Determining the authenticity of vodka

To determine the quality of one of the most consumed alcoholic drinks in Russia, you should know the external signs of a genuine drink. Vodka is checked according to the following criteria:

1. Taste.
2. Color.
3. Smell.

Therefore, you should not purchase vodka bottled in dark, opaque containers. The strength of high-quality vodka should be 40-56%. You can determine the temperature using a home alcohol meter.

According to statistics, in Russia, about 35-40 people are poisoned and killed every day using surrogate vodka with an existing excise stamp.

Good vodka will not contain any additional suspensions or impurities. It is soft in taste and has a distinct vodka aroma. When testing, the vodka liquid should not irritate or burn the laryngeal mucosa. Try rubbing a drop of vodka in your palm. A high-quality drink will not release any additional flavors (acetone, vinegar and other chemicals).

Studying aromatic foam

For beer, the main thing is the foam. Moreover, when drinking alcohol is spilled, there should not be too much or too little foam. The optimal foam level is medium in size, quite thick and rich. So, how to determine the quality of aromatic hops by the foamy layer.

No foam:

• beer is heavily diluted with water;
• hypothermia is present;
• lacks carbon dioxide.

Too much foam:

• the drink is too warm;
• excess of intoxicating carbon dioxide;
• improper pouring of foam into glasses.

A very significant factor is the stability of the foam. It shows the level of maturity of the foam. A good, high-quality hop foam will have a thick foam, with a layer thickness of 4-5 mm. And it will not leave the surface for about 1-1.5 minutes. Experts advise drinking beer at a temperature of +8-10⁰С.

Determining the quality of wine

This skill is very relevant. In our country, too many fake wines made from powder have recently appeared. Although this type of alcohol has all the necessary papers and permits, it cannot be considered real wine.

First of all, the quality of a wine is determined by its aroma. A too strong, repulsive odor indicates a poor alcohol level. But true wine will delight the user with a whole bouquet of pleasant aromas replacing each other. To better appreciate the wine aroma, pour the alcohol into a wide container and shake a little:

1. High-quality wine will slowly flow down the sides of the glass.
2. When you add 2-3 drops of glycerin to it, low-quality alcohol will turn an unusual color.

How not to make a mistake when choosing when buying

Of course, the store won’t let you try alcohol, open a bottle, or smell it. Tasting in the sales area is not provided. Therefore, alcohol is bought almost blindly. How not to make a mistake? To do this, you need to carefully study the container in which the drink is poured and the label of the bottle.

Pay attention to the label of the alcohol. Using it, or rather, using the barcode printed on it, you can find out the manufacturer. Experts do not advise buying products from countries that do not inspire confidence. The label must also contain the following information:

• compound;
• the date of bottling;
• best before date;
• Manufacturer country;
• the type of alcohol sold.

An unevenly glued, crookedly placed label should alert the consumer. This is a direct indication that such alcohol is produced by handicraft, clandestine methods and can be poisonous and dangerous. And remember that a full quality check of alcoholic products can be carried out in a specialized laboratory.

It is better to seek the help of specialists if alcohol is purchased in large quantities for a large celebration. And never buy alcohol from hand or from unverified, questionable places.

We check alcohol using the excise stamp

The original purpose of creating excise stamps was to obtain a stable tax on the sale of alcohol. The state thus influenced the cost of alcoholic beverages and monitored the entire alcohol market. The history of this distinctive sign has its own characteristics. Look at the photos of old excise stamps for alcohol and compare them with modern ones:

This simple sign (if you know some rules) helps to distinguish counterfeit surrogate alcohol products from good quality alcohol. To accurately identify a fake, familiarize yourself with the basic rules of verification.

be careful

When you find yourself in the next supermarket in search of good quality alcohol, use all your powers of observation. You will need it when studying the excise stamp. First of all, check the quality of the gluing of the paper holding the bottle itself and the cap together.

Know that counterfeiting is a long and quite expensive process. Therefore, for the most part, handicraft manufacturers of surrogates always pay more attention to simple and uncomplicated aspects. But they ignore complex levels of protection. Experts highlight four points that need to be paid attention to:

• correct barcode;
• The excise stamp number is always inkjet printed;
• the image on the excise tax is foil and holographic;
• Information about the release date, security level and manufacturer must be present.

Pay attention to the size of the excise stamp itself. For alcohol products, it is officially established and can be presented in two variations:

1. 90x26 mm.
2. 62x21 mm.

If the dimensions do not match the established ones, you need to be wary. There is one more nuance in the excise stamp (it applies to larger stamps). Their upper part is separated from the lower part by a golden thread. This thread is dyed quite firmly, does not smudge or wear off. It can be pulled out of paper very easily.

Alcohol scanning

Every supermarket that respects itself and the consumer has special scanners. With their help, alcohol is checked using a barcode. Some of these scanners are present in the trading floors themselves. They are also available at the reception desk.

You can also scan the excise stamp on them. The electronics will automatically check all existing levels of product quality compliance. But many experts do not give a 100% guarantee of the authenticity of such verification.

Useful tricks

Focus on the cost of the alcohol you like. Do not purchase suspiciously cheap products, no matter how attractive their prices may be. Surrogate alcohol will always cost less, bootleggers are especially famous for their cheapness.

The definition of “bootlegger” dates back to the days of Prohibition in the United States. This word denoted underground dealers in alcohol-containing products. Unfortunately, the activities of bootleggers are also flourishing in modern Russia.

Also, to identify surrogate alcohol, you should pay attention to some very small nuances. They are invisible at first glance, but are very important when assessing the quality of alcohol. So, on the excise stamp:

• the paper itself, from which the excise stamp is made, has the appearance of self-adhesive and does not exhibit luminescence;
• on the negative strip the word “brand” will be visible, but on the positive strip the abbreviation “FMS” will be visible;
• the diamonds of the holographic image have a pattern into which the “RF” logo is “woven”, and this pattern is located in the center of the hologram;
• the stripe where “Federal Special Mark” is written when the color changes gradually turns into a positive reflection from a negative one.

Online alcohol testing program

You can also check the excise stamp for alcohol by number online using the Internet. There are several methods to carry out these checks.

Using a national service

The Federal Service for Regulation of the Alcohol Products Market has developed an Internet service specifically for consumers. To understand how to check alcohol by excise stamp online, you need to go to the official website of the service in the section “Checking stamps”.

You should enter the necessary data from the excise stamp in a special window and receive complete information. The information obtained should be compared with other parameters. They must be identical.

Products webpage

An online check of the excise tax stamp for alcohol can also be carried out on the website of the manufacturer of this alcoholic product. Of course, there are excise tax data only for those products that are produced by the manufacturer. If the product is fake or surrogate, you won’t find information about it there. To do this, you should also enter the necessary information from the excise tax and receive all the necessary information online.

conclusions

Knowing all the nuances and degrees/levels of protection of high-quality alcoholic products, the consumer will be able to avoid purchasing obviously dangerous substitutes and low-quality alcohol. Of course, all of the above nuances cannot protect you from purchasing a high-quality counterfeit of elite alcohol.

Recently, there has been an increase in the production of surrogate alcohol under the guise of expensive alcohol.

Therefore, it is still worth purchasing alcoholic beverages only in specialized stores and never taking alcohol from your hands, even if you are seduced by the low price. Remember that the percentage of deaths from methyl alcohol ingestion (which is what is present in surrogates) is extremely high.

vsezavisimosti.ru

How does EGAIS work?

All alcohol producers and importers label each unit of product (keg, bottle, etc.). The manufacturer affixes federal special stamps, and the importer affixes excise stamps. The 2D barcode on each bottle contains:

name of alcoholic products,

manufacturer information,

licenses,

date of bottling of the drink and its other unique characteristics.

The warehouseman of a retail store, in the process of accepting alcohol into the warehouse, is required to process invoices from suppliers through the Unified State Automated Information System.

To meet the technical requirements, each retail outlet must have a computer with a universal transport module (UTM) and an Internet connection. You also need a JaCarta crypto key with a qualified signature. The merchandiser must carry out acceptance in a modified store inventory system that can work with EGAIS, or in a third-party software product.

When selling alcohol, the cashier uses a scanner to read the barcode from the bottle. The store's cash register program, modified to meet the requirements of EGAIS, sends information from the bar via the Internet to the FS RAR server for verification. After successful verification, the system generates a unique QR code for the receipt and the alcohol is released to the buyer.

The buyer receives a receipt with a QR code (even if he bought several bottles of alcohol, one QR code is printed on the receipt).

yamobi.ru

Only through EGAIS

In April of this year, the EGAIS system was introduced in Russia. Which, according to the developers, should have completely eliminated the possibility of “burnt” alcohol getting onto the shelves of all stores. As practice has shown, EGAIS really works. Each tax stamp is unique and it is in the database. But it is impossible to sell alcohol with fake excise stamps if you have an Internet connection. If there is no connection, then it is better to buy alcohol in another store or wait until the information from the cash register is sent to EGAIS.

“By reading the QR code with your phone, you can confirm the legality of alcohol. Check product parameters, time, address, store name. Although, the seller knows that the buyer has such a document in his hands and will be able to check the legality of each bottle. Thus, the likelihood of fraud when selling through EGAIS with scanning a tax stamp and printing a receipt with a QR code is negligible. In addition, when selling alcohol through EGAIS, it is debited from the store’s balance sheet. Obviously, if a store bought 100 bottles and sold 120, then something is wrong and there will be an inspection. This again protects the buyer from counterfeit goods,” the expert commented.

The conclusion suggests itself - alcohol should only be purchased in well-known brand markets, where the goods go through the cash register. And no sales of whiskey, tequila, cognac on the Internet! These drinks, if they are real, a priori cannot be cheap.

Which smartphone app helps you spot a fake?

To check any bottle you need to install it on your phone free application "Anti-Counterfeit Alco". The program is available on the App Store, Google Play and Windows Phone. Based on the “ingenious” design and the excessive amount of data that is required to be entered for registration, it immediately becomes clear that the application was developed by the state. But nevertheless it works.

Where is methyl and where is ethyl?

Ethyl alcohol, also known as drinking, food or medical alcohol, also known as ethanol, also known as a substance with the chemical formula C2H5OH, is the basis of all alcoholic beverages - but not surrogates. Surrogate booze is created on the basis of methyl alcohol or methanol. It is a pure poison to the body, so being able to distinguish it at home from the relatively safe ethanol can be vital.

One way is as follows: the liquid that is in doubt should be poured into a metal container and put on fire. Next, we measure the temperature of the alcohol at the moment of boiling - ethanol boils at 78°C, technical methanol already at 64°C.

Another option. A black copper wire heated over a fire should be dipped into cold medical alcohol - if during the reaction of copper oxide with aldehyde the smell of vinegar appears, then it is ethyl alcohol; if the liquid emits an unpleasant, pungent odor, it is methyl alcohol.

You can also test alcohol “for honesty” in this way. You need to add a little baking soda to a small amount of alcohol, mix it well and see if a precipitate forms in the liquid. An insoluble yellow precipitate forms when iodine reacts with ethanol, while methanol remains pure and transparent.

informatio.ru Lungs hurt

The excise stamp of a product indicates that the product has passed the GOST test and fully complies with the declared quality. Stamps have various types of protection, for the creation of which special technologies and materials are used.

• uneven, crooked edges;
• paint comes off quickly when rubbed with a fingernail.

• the color of the stamp is an iris transition from blue to lilac, size 44X20 mm;
• there are 2 blue squares that luminesce under UV radiation;
• red protective fibers do not have luminescence, and yellow-red fibers have luminescence (yellow part) under the influence of UV;
• The coat of arms of the Russian Federation should be printed on the left, with the repeated phrase “RUSSIA IMPORT” written around it in small print;
• above the coat of arms is written “RUSSIA”, and in the center - “EXCICE STAMP” (a tobacco leaf is drawn above it, the type of tobacco product is indicated below it);
• all inscriptions, coat of arms and drawings are printed in black paint;
• “TOBACCO” is written across the middle (negative execution);
• A letter (A, B, C, D) and 2 numbers should be printed at the top right: the letter indicates the quarter, and the numbers - the last 2 digits - the year when the stamp was produced;
• On the right, the black stripe indicates the series of the brand.

If you have any doubts about the authenticity of the excise stamp, it is better not to purchase this product. Take care of your health, protect yourself from counterfeits, paying attention to at least the most memorable signs and designations.

Vodka is a truly Russian drink. And who, if not the Russians, knows how to produce it. But unfortunately, the alcohol market is literally flooded with counterfeit products or so-called burnt vodka. This product contains various impurities and even methanol - a poison for the human body. To stay healthy while drinking strong drinks, you need to know how to test vodka and learn to recognize a fake.

Main indicators of vodka quality

There are various ways to check at home what was purchased in the store - high-quality vodka or a surrogate. After all, the fake product is bottled in the same bottles as the original. It contains no less beautiful labels and excise stamps. The only difference is that if you consume such vodka, you can remain disabled for the rest of your life.

Price reduction - promotion or deception

Every person who has entered a large supermarket has more than once seen yellow or red price tags on goods indicating a discount. Most often, prices are reduced on products with expiring dates. But can vodka spoil?

Like any food product, vodka has an expiration date. But reducing the price of a popular brand of vodka is not always a marketing ploy. The store, by reducing the price, seeks to sell a fake.

To determine the average price of alcohol, you need to go to several stores. Their prices may vary, but not by more than 10%. If the difference is significant, you should refuse to purchase alcoholic beverages.

Determining a surrogate by cover

Alcohol is a rapidly evaporating substance. Therefore, each bottle of strong drink is carefully sealed. Of course, the lid is no more difficult to fake than the container itself. But craftsmen very rarely manage to achieve factory quality.

There are two types of caps used to seal vodka bottles:

• screw;
• “peakless” cover.

How to identify burnt vodka by the lid? When purchasing a product with a screw cap, you need to check how tightly it fits around the neck. It should not spin, and the control notches should not be torn off. The liquid is poured into containers with screw caps to the middle of the neck.

The cap-less cap should also fit tightly around the neck without moving. In the factory, the liquid is poured into the container just above the hanger.

Content quality check

Holding the treasured product in your hands, and making sure of the reality of the cost and the quality of the closure, you do not need to immediately run to the checkout and pay. First, you should check the degree of transparency of the alcohol and make sure there is no sediment, indicating a low-quality product.

Now you can start shaking the contents. The appearance of small bubbles indicates a quality product. If the bubbles are large, or even foam appears, it is better to put such a bottle in its place. There is no point in checking it further.

How to check the quality by the label and appearance of the container

Having picked up the bottle, you need to look through it at the back of the label. In the factory, glue is applied in horizontal, even stripes that are clearly visible through the contents.

Now you need to start studying the information on the label. It should be easy to read. The label always indicates information about the manufacturer, GOST standards, the composition of the product indicating the quality of the alcohol, etc.

There is another way to distinguish burnt vodka from real one. The date of manufacture will help with this. It should be located on the label, cap and excise stamp. The bottling date must be the same in all locations. There must also be a barcode and a holographic image.

The type of bottle is no less informative. An indicator of quality will be the presence of production protection, which is cast along with the bottle. The product is protected by a coat of arms, a personal sign of the manufacturer, special markings or relief. In artisanal conditions, they will not falsify the protection, since this process is too expensive.

Home methods for identifying counterfeit products

The absence of external signs of a fake is not a reason for fun. Having poured vodka into a glass, you need to deeply inhale the alcohol vapors emanating from it. If they contain foreign odors (acetone, gasoline, etc.), it is better to throw out such a product.

Other testing methods are also applicable at home.

Weighing. According to all laws, a liter bottle must contain 1000 g of product. But if during the preparation process the proportions of alcohol and water are correctly observed, the specific gravity of the finished product will be 953 g. A deviation from this weight up or down is allowed, but not more than 5 g.

To understand whether it is fake or not, you should weigh the bottle

Setting fire. This method is used by moonshiners. The liquid is poured into a spoon and set on fire. When high-quality vodka burns, a small blue flame is formed. The surrogate flares up or does not light up at all. The appearance of a green flame indicates the presence of methanol.

After the alcohol burns out, a clear, odorless liquid should remain in the spoon. The remaining oily consistency indicates the presence of fusel oils.

Copper wire. Using a copper wire, you can test vodka for the presence of methanol. First, it is heated over an open flame, and then lowered into a container with a strong drink. If, when the wire cools, a sharp odor reminiscent of formaldehyde appears, this means that the vodka contains methyl alcohol.

Freezing. This is the simplest but most effective way to determine the quality of a product. Place the bottle in the freezer for 1–2 hours. Then, they take it out and check the contents. A drink prepared in accordance with the technology will acquire a viscous consistency.

The formation of ice crystals indicates the presence of impurities and excessive amounts of water.

Chemical test

This method involves the use of litmus paper or sulfuric acid. If you dip the edge of litmus paper into a glass of strong drink, it should not change color. If the color of the paper changes to red, you should not drink this drink.

Sulfuric acid is mixed in equal proportions with vodka and stirred. Black coloring of the liquid indicates the presence of fusel oils.

Conclusion

Knowing how to recognize burnt vodka and applying these methods in practice, you will be able to avoid a hangover, provided you drink alcohol in moderation. But most importantly, a high-quality product is not hazardous to health. And to minimize the risk of buying a surrogate, you need to not only check the vodka, but also choose a container with a roll-on dispenser. It is practically not counterfeited.