Quality control and identification of organic biscuits

Abstract

The object of research is children’s spelled biscuits Holle (Germany) and Belgian children’s biscuits with pieces of Fleur Alpine chocolate (Belgium). Consumers often buy organic-branded traditional food products through unfair advertising and labeling violations. Due to the fact that organic products are often the subject of counterfeiting, quality expertise is especially important. Also, thanks to the conformity assessment of the labeling given in the work, it is possible to establish whether the product is really organic. The labeling of biscuits was analyzed for compliance with the Law of Ukraine «On Organic Production» and the Law of Ukraine «On Information for Food Consumers». The study showed that the labeling complies with legal requirements in both samples. It was also found that both samples of biscuits meet the requirements of regulatory documents for organoleptic indicators. Organoleptic characteristics were tested: shape, surface, color, taste and smell, appearance in the fault. The tasting assessment was carried out according to a 45-point scale developed by the authors. The total number of points in the tasting score, taking into accounts the weight factor, for Fleur Alpine biscuits was 39.96, which corresponds to a quality level of 0.88; and Holle biscuits – 44, with a quality level of 0.97. Both samples meet the requirements of regulatory documents for such physicochemical indicators as humidity, alkalinity and moisture content. The moisture content of the biscuits was determined in an accelerated manner in an oven. Wetness was determined by the ratio of the weight of the items after wetting to the weight of the dry items. Alkalinity was determined by titration of the product filtrate. The moisture content for Fleur Alpine biscuits was 9.3 % and for Holle biscuits it was 8.0 %. The alkalinity was 1.6 and 1.4 degrees, respectively, and the wetness was also within the normal range with values of 120 and 110 %. The results indicate the quality of the studied samples in terms of organoleptic and physicochemical indicators.