Identification and quality assessment of canned fish

The article presents the results of identification of identical samples of canned fish of Russian and imported production from tuna, on the label of which there is the word "natural". The aim of the study was to identify canned fish from tuna, sold in the territory of the Moscow region, and to analyze their compliance with the name "natural canned fish". It was established that the domestic sample does not correspond to this name. The actual fish content allows classifying the product as canned fish; the word "natural" (in the singular and plural) refers not to the type of canned food, but to tuna; there are deviations of the actual results from the information indicated on the label. It was determined that the net weight slightly exceeds that declared on the label: for the domestic sample – by 1.1%, for the imported sample – by 1.9%. It was found that the mass fractions of protein and fat in the samples under study exceeded the values stated on the label several times. The actual mass fraction of table salt in the imported sample exceeded the value stated on the label 2.5 times. Thus, the imported sample can be conditionally classified as natural canned fish, but significant discrepancies were found during the assessment of its quality. It was found that the hierarchy and consistency of the definition of terms in the technical regulations for fish products were violated, which could negatively affect the process of identifying this type of fish product. In order to provide Russian consumers with high-quality natural canned fish and to exclude counterfeiting, there is an objective need to tighten control over the information placed on the product label.