Russia’s standards watchdog Roskachestvo announced that vodka was one of only two goods — in addition to mini-bagels — sold in the country in which no safety or quality violations were found in the past two years.
Roskachestvo didn’t find any violations in tests of 49 vodka brands produced by 34 domestic and foreign companies, according to a report published on its website on Wednesday.
The watchdog listed Zelyonaya Marka (Green Mark), Pyat Ozyor (Five Lakes), Russkiy Standard (Russian Standard) and Beluga as some of the best quality brands of vodka sold in Russia.
Vodka sales accounted for 39 percent of the total volume of alcoholic beverages sold in Russia in 2016 — or 966 million liters — the RBC business portal reported.
An additional 250 million liters of low-quality vodka is sold annually in Russia according to Roskachestvo’s report.
The watchdog warned that even the highest quality vodka could be harmful to a consumer's health.
The Moscow Times offers the same warning to its readers.
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