Dubai Chocolate to be tested for counterfeit and dangerous ingredients

Rospotrebnadzor and the State Commission for combating Illicit trafficking in industrial products are being asked to stop the sale and withdraw from circulation suspiciously cheap "Dubai chocolate", which began to be sold en masse in Russia. This request was made by Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative (OPI), who also heads the public council at Rospotrebnadzor.

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In a document that Izvestia has, the social activist reports on a study conducted by the OPI on the so-called Dubai chocolate, which is now widely sold both in non-chain retail and on the Internet. According to him, the price of imported goods in Russia varies from 199 rubles for 40 grams, 351 rubles for 75 grams to 622 rubles for 130 grams.

"As a result of the control purchase and monitoring, it was found that a significant part of the chocolate samples do not meet the mandatory requirements of the technical regulations TR CU 022/2011 (Food products in terms of their labeling). Typical violations are the lack of mandatory information in Russian about the manufacturer, importer, storage conditions, food additives, nutritional value, as well as ingredients whose use may cause allergic reactions (nuts, etc.), etc.," the appeal says.

In addition, it is noted that this product may be dangerous to the health of Russians. The document provides open research data from German scientists who in 2024 studied their market for "Dubai chocolate", supplied mainly from third countries (Jordan, Turkey, UAE). In total, they examined 38 images, more than half of which revealed violations, and nine were declared unsafe.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Sweet and nasty: Dubai chocolate will be tested for counterfeit and dangerous ingredients