Russia's red caviar production more than doubles in ten months to 34,700 tonnes - Rosselkhoznadzor

MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - Russian production of natural red caviar reached 34,700 tonnes in the first ten months of this year, which is 2.1 times more than the 16.8 million tonnes produced in the same period last year, Rosselkhoznadzor said, citing data from the VetIS State Information System.

The increase came thanks to a successful salmon catch this year, which was the second best, at 609,000 tonnes, after the record catch of 676,000 tonnes in 2018.

The leaders in natural salmon caviar production, like last year, are the Kamchatka Territory and the Sakhalin Region, which account for over 50% of the total volume.

Meanwhile, production of simulated red caviar over decreased over ten months to 718 tonnes from 1,700 tonnes the year before, Rosselkhoznadzor said. The main producers of these products are companies registered in St. Petersburg, Kamchatka Territory and Vladimir Region.

The production of structured salmon caviar is almost at the same level as last year. Over ten months, 761 tonnes were produced compared to 748 tonnes last year. This caviar is produced in Kamchatka and Krasnodar territories, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Moscow region, and in the Novosibirsk region.

As reported, seaweed and animal protein, as well as a number of food additives, are used to make imitation caviar. Structured caviar contains caviar mass with the addition of complex nutritional supplementation. During its production, damaged substandard eggs are thoroughly mixed into a homogeneous mixture, and then shaped into balls with a shell. In order to do this, a complex of food additives is used, which must be indicated on the label of the product.

With the New Year holidays around the corner, Rosselkhoznadzor is asking consumers to pay attention to product labeling, especially the product's name and ingredients, and not to allow themselves to be misled by unscrupulous manufacturers who call their fish product containing an unknown amount of chemical food additives "caviar."