The economist warned about counterfeit alcohol before the New Year

Nadezhda Kapustina, Doctor of Economics, professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, warned that on the eve of the holidays, the amount of counterfeit alcohol traditionally increases sharply in the consumer market.

In conversation with Lenta.Ru On Friday, December 12, the expert noted that most often the victims of counterfeiting are buyers who focus on the lowest prices. To avoid counterfeiting, she advises to carefully inspect the packaging — pay attention to the quality of the print, excise stamps, the accuracy of the labels and the absence of errors in the text. Alcohol, according to her, is safer to buy in large chain stores, and spontaneous markets and questionable points of sale are better avoided.

The specialist stressed that counterfeit vodka and other strong drinks are the most dangerous: they may contain methanol and toxic impurities that can cause severe poisoning even in small doses. Cognac and whiskey are also at risk — they are often forged due to the high price of the originals, mixing cheap alcohol with additives. Sparkling wines are adulterated less often, but this risk cannot be completely eliminated either.

Neither to myself, nor to children: in the Russian Federation they want to increase fines for buying alcohol for teenagers

State Duma deputies propose to increase the amount of the penalty by 10 times, up to 50 thousand rubles.

Earlier on December 12, the Ministry of Health of the Moscow region told about the danger of sweets with alcohol. The combination of chocolate with cognac or liqueur overloads the liver and pancreas, increases blood sugar levels and, with regular exposure, can increase the risk of developing diabetes, according to RIAMO.

On the same day, expert Yulia Malevannaya spoke about the preparation of the body for the New Year's feast. According to her, 1-2 weeks before the New Year, it is worth starting to take hepatoprotectors based on essential phospholipids, which help the liver cope with alcohol and food stress. Malevannaya also advised drinking B vitamins in advance, since alcohol actively flushes them out of the body.

On December 11, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Moscow region recalled fines for the illegal sale of alcohol. Since September 1, 2025, new restrictions have been in effect in the Moscow region: a ban on issuing and extending licenses to retail facilities with entrances from the courtyards of the MKD, with the exception of shops with an entrance from the street and at a distance of no more than 30 m from the roadway, reports 360.ru .

On December 10, agroexpert Ilya Bereznyuk, in an interview with RT, explained how to choose high-quality champagne. According to him, first of all it is worth looking at the label: Champagne is a wine exclusively from French Champagne, whereas Russian and Italian analogues are sparkling wines, not classic champagne, which does not make them worse. He also stressed the importance of the grape variety.

In November, Igor Kosarev, president of the Union of Manufacturers of Alcoholic Beverages, told NSN that it is not worth buying alcoholic beverages in illegal places. According to him, there is an application "Anti-Counterfeit", where all licensed stores are collected. In this application, you can check the license of any purchased bottle.

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