Assessment of the Vodka Safety and Detection of Falsification Compared to the Original Ones

Vodka is an in-demand alcoholic beverage in Eastern Europe, produced from ethyl alcohol that originated via fermentation of raw material rich in carbohydrates. Besides ethanol content, vodka also entails a fixed level of other substances, such as complex esters, aldehydes, fusel alcohols, and methyl alcohol. With the growing number of alcoholic beverage options, it is crucial to identify and verify potentially counterfeit vodkas. Hence, this investigation aims to collect studies on vodka composition and uncover the falsified products based on their physical and chemical characteristics compared to the original ones, such as alcohol strength, methanol concentration, alkalinity, and mass concentration of complex esters. As the implication of this investigation, the falsified grain vodkas (nearly 97,8 %) have been revealed in the Republic of Armenia. However, none of them has contained hazardous amounts of methanol.