The consumer magazine dTest sent 11 labels to the laboratory and three red cabbage dealers, which are sold in plastic bags in refrigerator shelves. The lab examined the presence of desirable probiotic bacteria, fermentation quality, vitamin C content and looking for potentially heavy metals, nitrates, sulphites and preservatives. "We cooked sauerkraut five years ago and the main conclusions are similar - insufficient vitamin C in a third of the samples, some products contain no probiotic bacteria. We have not uncovered more serious offenses, " summarizes Hana Hoffmann, editor-in-chief of dTest.
According to the survey conducted by dTest, consumers prefer saucer sauerkraut sterilized in glasses, because they reasonably expect "live" probiotics to function properly in the intestines. "Relying on the packaging only does not pay. Even among the sack cabbage, we encountered sterilized products that are usually packed in glasses. The sterilization treatment kills all microorganisms including beneficial probiotic bacteria; in sterilized cabbage you will not find the probiotics, " explains Hana Hoffmann's main differences. The red sour cabbage of the Tesco Value brand did not contain any probiotics at all. There was also white Albert sliced cabbage, one gram of sample counting less than one hundred bacteria. The average value is in the order of millions of bacteria in grams of sour cabbage.
The recommended dose of vitamin C for a healthy adult is 80 mg daily. Most vitamin C contains fresh cabbage - in one kilogram it is approximately 450 mg of vitamin C on average, in its acid concentration it is around 160 mg / kg. Significantly below-average values for vitamin C were measured by the cabbage lab in Osteel Cabbage, Tesco Value and H + H. The worst was Albert Kyssen white cabbage with just 6 mg of vitamin C per kilogram of product.
The quality of the fermentation, ie fermentation, can be ascertained by the amount of lactic acid, acetic, formic, volatile acids, pH and ethanol. "We did not have any problems with the quality of fermentation, we did very good and good marks for it. All cabbage reliably complied with all the prescribed requirements. Nor did we find any unacceptable addition of formic acid, " comments Hana Hoffmann.
Organizations that warn about dirt and inferior quality in cabbage are molds and yeasts. "Most samples passed with a clean shield, but Agro Tuřany and Agrospol Bolehošť branded a laboratory of tens of thousands of yeasts and molds in a sample gram," notes Hana Hoffmann. Without worrying findings, analyzes of concealed additives, undesirable heavy metals and nitrates have also been completed.
The content of sulphites in cabbage does not exceed the allowed limit for any product. The second group of additives were chemical preservatives - sorbans and benzoates. Their use is not very traditional, and the legislation allows them only for products in brine, not in the original cabbage. The majority of the manufacturers exchanged natural flavor for the salty infusion into which the preservatives added. Without the help of preservatives, only five companies - Agro Tuřany, Agrospol Bolehošť, Efko, H + H and the producer of red cabbage Tesco Value, Only the cabbage of H + H and Efko branded in the original liqueur.
For a list of tested cabbage cabbages, visit www.dtest.cz. Full test results came from the February issue of the dTest magazine.
Tip dTest: Do not forget to read the labels when buying chilled cabbage in a bag. When choosing to help you recognize products with chemical preservatives or reveal those sterilized.
Source: tz dTest.cz